All That Was Left: Honor
by The Storm Commando
Summary: The Fire Nation has been defeated at Ba Sing Se. Lu Ten is dead, General Iroh disgraced, Fire Lord Azulon passed, and Ozai inheriting his throne. As the Earth Kingdom aggressively regains its territory and the Fire Nation attempts to assert control, a group of Fire Nation deserters seek to protect those unable to defend themselves, and punish those who abuse their power.
1. Chapter 1: Death at Citadel

**Boss**

Low on food, low on fuel, low on morale. We've been riding for 3 weeks now. We haven't been keeping pace. We had been forced to abandon one of our tanks when an issue in the fuel main was found. Gordez determined it'd be safer to just ditch the tank. Shanzi took some minor damage that proved in time to be less minor as time passed and she was slowing the pace for us.

We were 4 strong, 5 now including Luke. It was me, Zek, Hizo, Gordez, and Luke. Chez had decided his loyalty was to his Nation first, his squad second. Nobody blamed him. Nobody was surprised either. Haz had died in the final battle with the Earth Kingdom. Or at least, we assumed so. We could never find his body inside of his scorched tank. So even with two less, there was no fitting us in one tank no matter how much we cramped. So our pace has been ground to a halt despite Gordez's best efforts to mend Shanzi's wounds.

Every day, Shanzi seemed to be doing worse. Gordez told us we could have gone back to our first tank's carcass and attempted to salvage what we needed, and it would have taken less time, but I had vetoed the decision. There were 4 possibilities the way I saw it. One, we'd backtrack for 2 weeks to find its corpse already stripped bare by scavengers. Two, we'd run into the Fire Nation retreat and be flogged for deserters. Iroh was heading south, but those heading east, ready to make the immediate voyage back to the Fire Nation, they were Ozai's loyalists, the last people I'd want to run into right now. Three, we'd run straight into the Earth Kingdom advance. They'd be eager to retake as much territory as possible following the Fire Nation retreat. That'd mean maximum prejudice. We wouldn't survive to see the next morning. And four, we'd find our tank in perfect condition, unstripped, unguarded, ready for us to strip bare. Though even in that scenario, we had no supplies to get us there. So to me at least, it was an easy decision.

I don't think I'll ever hear the end of it from Gordez. I don't even think it's because he's afraid we won't survive. I think he just hates to see Shanzi in so much pain. I'd taken note of his affinity to mechanics before and tossed it aside as a joke, but I was starting to think there really was something about industry and mechanics that just mesmerized him in every possible way. I may have to keep an eye on him once we start the next phase of the plan, assuming we even get there. Though despite everything that may be considered "odd" about his love for engineering and mechanics and such, I knew he was one of the best when it came to them. If anybody could've kept Shanzi alive for as long as he has so far, it's him.

Zek and Hizo. What exactly are they doing except for keeping morale up? Now that I think about it, nothing really comes to mind. In the first day alone, I can't think of how many times Zek had made fun of Shanzi's name around Hizo. He'd whisper comments to himself that were clearly designed to anger Hizo. Hizo wasn't helping either. He'd take the bait every time. Just to save us the headache, I'd kept them in secret tanks, but that'd only serve to rouse pent up banter between them whenever we stopped for meals.

I finally found a solution that worked when I ordered we eat midday rations in the tank and only stop driving at night to make camp. By then, they'd be too tired to stop for banter. It was a relief for the camp when the solution had been found. Then the next day, when it was determined we were out of rations and would have to start living off the land, it started all over. No more in-tank meals, just very loud hunting trips where, obviously, nothing would be caught as the two idiots' noise would drive away any and all game.

I liked to play the "loved" when it came to being the leader, but sometimes, only the "feared" could inspire change. So I did what I had to do with them. There's been no trouble since. And, as punishment for my interference, morale has dropped significantly, but we were alive. Though game was spreading thin, and we by no means had enough to feed us once phase two of the plan began.

And then there was Luke. I had no idea what the hell to do with Luke. It became obvious to me pretty quickly where Luke's strong suit was. He was without a doubt a fighter, whether by choice or sheer necessity. Something told me necessity. For fuck's sake, he was a kid, and he was a better killer than all of us combined. Not just because he was a fire bender. That kid, sadly enough, knew how to kill.

For the last 3 weeks, he hasn't said a word. I thought it was to make a point at first, maybe show his reluctance to the idea of desertion that was clear he felt. We were all honorably discharged, but we all knew that defense was worth nothing. We had deserted, by intention if not by name. Well, maybe not with Luke. Iroh had told us that he'd do whatever he could to get Luke to leave the Fire Nation, saying he wouldn't be safe in the Fire Nation. On that, we could agree, but there was something about the way that Iroh put it that unsettled even me.

I'd seen what Luke was capable of on the battlefield. Born killer yes, but having him around now was less practical. I'd say he was a waste of food except he hardly ate. He'd help us hunt, cook the food himself, but would hardly take a bite. We all knew what happened at Stone's Edge, and we'd all agree to never mention it again, but it was clear it was still fresh in Luke's mind. His regret and sorrow at what he had done was clear, and I pitied him more than anything. I knew he'd take it back if he could, but that kid, I could still see, was a warrior.

He didn't have the choice to be anything else. I still knew little of what had happened to him in Citadel, but I knew enough about that damned city to assess that it was nothing good.

And speaking of Citadel, this evening, it'd be only about 20 miles to the south, and Luke would be given a choice that I was very interested to see his response to.

I found him, that evening, sitting against the chassis of Shanzi, gazing at the forest to the north, back to the south, refusing to turn. It was safe to assume that he knew where he was.

"Luke?" I asked as I approached him. Many people had told me that whenever I addressed my men, I rarely showed emotion. I showed emotion only when I needed to. I had done just that to Luke when I tried to force him out of Squad Iron Fire over a month ago, when he still looked to me like just another underaged casualty ready to transpire under my watch: a statistic I had no deign to modify any further. I didn't do so now, show emotion that is. If there was anything I had learned about Luke in the short time I had served with him, it was that the last thing he needed was people treating him any differently, especially as though he were any weaker.

He turned around to look at me. His eyes were blank. There was nothing in them when I looked at him. No emotion, no fire, not even sorrow. It was as though I were looking at a dead man. _Perhaps he already was just another underaged casualty under my watch._

I knew that he knew exactly where he was, and I spoke to him just so. He didn't need me to feign ignorance. "We're running low on supplies. We need food, water, and fuel. We're planning on taking Shanzi to Citadel, see if we can get her fixed, refueled as well as with a few more canisters, and get ourselves enough provisions to last us the rest of the journey. We could use some help finding our way around in Citadel. You up for it?

I guess I hadn't been expecting him to talk. Hell, I didn't know what I had been expecting, but it surprised me all the same when he said "No."

I had completely forgotten what his voice sounded like. I think it's because it wasn't his voice I heard then and there. I'd heard him before. I remember that he still sounded like a child last I spoke to him. Now, though, there was no semblance of childish innocence that I heard in his voice when he spoke just that one word.

Maybe it wasn't his voice that surprised me alone, but his answer. _Should it have surprised me? _In hindsight, maybe it shouldn't have. All the same, in that moment, whether it was because I wanted to know why or make sure that it hadn't been a fluke, I asked, "Why?"

And he was silent for a while. So long of a while that I began to wonder if he had returned to his state of deafening silence until he spoke after a long sigh, saying, "I was stuck in that city for my entire life. I only got out because I was lucky. If I go back in there, I'm never coming out."

It made sense. It did. I had thought that the chance to go back would be something he'd at least consider, but he was stronger than that. That city, for better or worse, was a drug. The life that came with it, just so. If he were to go back right now, willingly or unwillingly, I doubted he'd ever come out.

"Okay," I said. "Just checking on you. You okay?"

He didn't say anything more then. He just turned back around, facing the forest once more. I considered myself lucky to have gotten any words out of him at all, and I left to find Hizo and Zek. It was high time that they proved to me they still deserved to stick around.

I found them by the fire. By the rotation, this would be a day without dinner. They were hungry, that much I could tell. The fact they were hardly talking showed me just how badly I had messed up those days' past. Sure, we had been spared the headache, but we were worse for it overall. If I was lucky, I might still have a chance to fix that mistake.

"Hizo, Zek." I called.

They shot to attention, no doubt recalling what had transpired the last time they had approached insubordination. It still stung in my memory as well. We all had regrets.

"At ease." I said. After all, I didn't care what official records said. I was still Fire Nation even if not by name. I had served too long to cast that aside. I didn't about Ozai, but I served the Fire Nation. The real Fire Nation. And I liked to believe that the remnants of Squad Iron Fire still did as well. "We're low on food and supplies, obviously. There's a city to the south of here, Fire Nation occupied, name of Citadel. Yes, that Citadel. Orders are to take Shanzi over there, see if you can get her fixed up, refueled, and resupplied. We need fuel, food, and water, enough us to last us up to phase two and a bit beyond.

I saw the doubt in their eyes before they voiced it, but I gave them the luxury of saying it before I answered. I needed their restored faith that they could come to me and ask me anything. I was their commander, even if not by rank or title anymore.

It was Hizo who spoke first "Sir, we can do that, but about phase 2, is it still a go?"

"It is."

"Does Luke know?" Zek asked. "Not yet, but he will."

"You think he'll go along with it?"

"I do. Is that all?"

"Yes sir." They both saluted, and I returned their respect. It was the least I could do after all. I only prayed I hadn't alienated them enough to the extent that sending the two of them alone was a risk. _No. I can trust them. _I could. And they deserved the same choice I had given Luke, but a lot was riding on my faith. I had given them a tank, and half of the money we had. If I had played my cards right, I had given them just enough to earn more. The two best gamblers in our division in the same place. The only risk now was them getting their throats slit or leaving us high and dry.

_No. I could trust them._

**Zek**

Gambling was a code 1 violation in the Fire Nation army. That just meant every act of gambling was high stakes gambling.

And in Citadel, the stakes were even higher. If you won, you were a target for the entire city, if you lost, you were essentially screwed, but you were alive. And if you cheated, well, if you were cheated, you got your throat slit. Hizo and I determined this all by analyzing a single alleyway for just 15 minutes where we saw all three outcomes transpire in quick succession.

Lucky for Hizo and me, we were the best gamblers this side of continent. And by that, I meant we were the best cheaters.

"So you think we can pull it off?" I asked Hizo who was leaning against a sandcrete wall to my right.

"Yeah. I think we got this."

"How much time did the mechanic say it would take him?"

"3 hours I think."

"Ooh. It's gonna be a fun night. You got the stuff?"

"Only if you do."

I reached into my pockets, pulling out the wooden rectangular dice with an interior ball that rolls to certain sides, weighing it down so that we always know which side will emerge face up. Now, while this sounds easy to counter, the ball within activates a small mechanism that displays what the winning side will be right before it's thrown.

As I did this, he pulled out his secret cards that he has never divulged the secret of to anymore, including myself. Just so, he didn't know the secrets of my magic dice, and we've determined to keep it this way throughout the length of our service thus far

"So?" I started. "Split up?"

"Fine by me. I'll go west, you go east?"

"How about I go west, and you go east?"

"Fuck you think I'm trying to do, scam you? I'm saving that shit for the idiots here."

That commend only served to gain the attention of the gamblers we had been watching, who, fortunately, only heard the 'idiots' comment, prompting them to look up from their game, eyeing us suspiciously.

"He means the other idiots who just left." I said, saving.

They went back to their game. _Wow. Boss was right. We do need to watch what the hell we say._

"Alright. Fine," said Hizo. "I'll go west. You go east."

"Nice try, asshole. I'll meet you at the courtyard in an hour and a half. We'll combine our cash and see what we can afford."

"Did you do an even split?"

"Fuck yes I did. You have 10 copper pieces. And so do I."

"Boss gave us 21. You have 11. Don't you?"

"Fuck you want me to do? Split it in half?"

"I'd appreciate a little honesty, first."

"Shut up and make some money. We'll meet in 90 minutes at the courtyard?"

He sighed, inclining his head upwards, grumbling out "Fine."

"Good. Make Boss proud."

With that, we parted ways, him heading east and me heading west. We all knew what the fuss was about. We wanted to see where Luke grew up. Ever since he'd joined us, the kid's been an enigma. I thought I knew him well enough when he first joined up. A bit dark and quiet, but still somebody who you could tell had a good humor to him. Or at least, that's what I took from his laughing at my jokes. And they were good jokes too. Who wouldn't laugh?

But shit, now, well, I know what I heard. An entire village? Alone? It was scary shit. Frankly, it made me rather uncertain about being in the same squad as him, having him riding in the same tank as me, sleeping less that 10 feet away. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't just a tad bit afraid of him. And he didn't talk. Not a word. Hasn't for the last 3 weeks. It was some scary shit. The only noise he'd make is him sharpening that damn knife of his every single night. I had no idea why, but I wasn't planning on asking. Boss was the only one who didn't seem afraid of him. Gordez, well, Gordez was Gordez. I knew he wasn't afraid, but he kept his distance all the same. And with good reason.

Hizo told me he heard Luke sometimes mumbling to himself in the middle of the night, but I'm pretty sure he was just saying that shit to fuck with me. I want to say I didn't believe it, but well, I was less reluctant to absolutely discard it. I probably wouldn't be surprised if I learned it to be true.

All any of us really knew about Luke was that he grew up on the Citadel West Side, near the famed "Grain Street." Well. Not the west west, but to the west of where we came in. Which was enough to go by.

I found the street soon enough, and just like that, I was beginning to understand just what the hell this city was.

We had come int the city through the tunnel, riding our tank all the way to the military district, unmolested on the way. It seemed Citadel hadn't yet been updated on new Fire Nation rosters. Our uniforms were all the credentials we needed. We drove the tank to the motor pool, asked the mechanic for quick repairs, to which he eagerly agreed to nobody's surprise as we had no doubt they were eager for any 'wartime activities' they could get their hands on, and was even so kind as to recommend we don't wear our uniforms in the slums and provide us with ponchos to cover ourselves.

It was set to be a rainy night judging by the clouds, so the advice and outfits were not unappreciated. That had been our first impression Citadel. A good one at that. We were then shown the way to the slums where just inches away from the wall, we witnessed the gambling life of Citadel, still imagining it as a healthy city full of life, until now, that is.

On the grain street, going from what was nearest to me to what was furthest, I saw a dead man on the ground, being devoured by a mischief of rats. The man was missing 2 eyes, a rope around his neck that had been cut, with a sign nailed to his chest spelling "Spreader". Above him, the other half of the rope was hanging from the broken gate of a ruined balcony railing.

Further ahead of me, a prostitute, or ex-prostitute as determined by later evidence, missing her hands, sat on the ground, leaning against the nearest building, bearing a marking on her forehead of two tits in front of a skull that I later learned meant she "pleasured hosts."

Further ahead, 2 young males, clearly wearing uniforms of brown shirts and pants, with a black vest and a strap of orange tape going across their torso, spears in hand, patrolled the streets, wearing orange masks, stabbing at bodies on the ground lightly enough to hurt but not pierce.

I watched long enough to see that when the body didn't flinch, they proceeded with an additional stab to the head, saying "host."

The mention of disease was already disconcerting enough, but the apparent means of determination and cleansing struck me as even more so.

What was clear beyond a doubt though, was that a new power was at play in Citadel, no doubt hostile towards whoever these "spreaders" were, but clearly in power as they seemed to be the only ones offering a solution to whatever affliction was present in the slums.

Whatever was going around, I had no intention of staying to learn the details of. I just had to find a good place to make some quick money and get the hell out. I decided not to linger on the grain street any longer than I had to, but when I turned to enter an alley, I was stopped by another uniformed gang member who said, "Other way."

"What's down there?" I asked.

"Quarantine. I said go away."

And just as soon as he said that, I heard the same voice that had said "host" behind me, say "Out of the way."

And the 2 gang members I had just seen, spears on their backs, carrying the dead body between them, walked past the guard who was cordoning off the alley, carrying the body into the darkness.

"I recommend you go the other way," the guard said, muffled by his orange mask. "Leave this city while you can."

"Mind if I ask what's going on?"

"So you **are **new. Disease going around. Most of us got it. Wear the masks to avoid spreading it or getting it if you're a lucky one. We're trying to make sure nobody else goes around spreading it, but some people just don't care like that guy hanging from the sign. Get out of here while you can. Nothing can be worth staying here."

"I'm just here to get some supplies and I'll be on my way."

"Then you're in the wrong place."

I figured as much. I had no intention of buying anything in these slums anyway. Not at this rate.

"Any gambling going around?"

"Everywhere, but I'd keep clear, they're the kind of assholes to spread it."

"What kind of disease is it anyway?"

"Bad one. Whatever it is, parasite we think, it goes inside of you, we think through the water at first, and paralyzes you slowly. Once it does, it spreads to your lungs, breeds, multiplies, and spreads itself through the air. Only way to kill it is to burn the bodies."

"And you have it?"

"Oh yeah. Once I fall over, they'll burn me like they do everyone else."

"How long does it take?"

He shrugged. "Days, weeks, months, different for everyone. Here," he said, handing me an orange mask "Before you get it too. Doused in alcohol. The smell's strong, but it'll help."

I put it on immediately, not willing to wait any longer, already terrified I may have gotten it. "And how will I know if I got it?"

"Oh. You'll know when you do. Skin gets all bloated and stuff. So yeah. May wanna be careful."

"Appreciated." Originally, I had intended to ask about past gangs in Citadel, about if anyone knew of a kid named Luke, of what his past may had been, but now, that was out the window. There were far more pressing concerns.

"Fuck this shit." I mumbled to myself. I had to find Hizo. There was no money to be made here worth the risk of this shit.

So I headed east, past the grain street once more. _Did the Fire Nation know about this? If they did, why weren't they doing anything? _I moved past the alleys once more, taking the same route so as to avoid the mere risk of an unfortunate encounter, now noticing the new details coming to light: dead bodies in dark alleys still breathing, exhaling the disease into the evening air, a gruesome sight.

I clung the mask to my face, embracing the smell of the mask as it was likely the only thing that would keep me alive had I not already caught whatever the hell it was. _Fucking hell, this city sucks._

I found the next major street after a good 10 minutes of shuffling through alleys until I realized the sheer scale of the city. How the hell was I going to find Hizo? I, of course, in my infinite wisdom, tried the first thing that came to mind. "Hizo!" I yelled. "Hizooooo!"

"Shut the fuck up!" somebody to my left declared. I looked over to find him leaning against a building, right beside a host, a corpse still exhaling. _What the fuck is wrong with this place? _

I moved past him, knowing one way or another, I'd have to find Hizo. I couldn't leave him in this fucking hellhole.

"Hizo!" I continued yelling as I moved through the street, past one lowlife or another. I went from person to person, asking one variation or another of "Where do people go to gamble?", gaining no replies until I finally received an answer. And naturally, that's where I headed, moving through crowded allies, past people all wearing masks as I clung to my own, pressing it against my face, absolutely scared shitless of whatever the hell was going around, praying that whatever it was, Hizo hadn't caught it, or hell, me.

And then I saw him, with his stupid ass cards lying by his feet. It took me a moment to realize that his throat was cut, blood pouring over his body, spilling over his neck onto the pavement.

The alley was empty save his corpse. Everyone and anyone who had been present or involved had left the scene, stripping him of nearly everything he had in his possession, except those damn cards.

It was all so fucking comedic in that damn moment. _Why not the cards? They were the most valuable things he had. _It was so damn fucking funny that eventually I did laugh. I laughed as I crouched to the ground, picking up his stupid ass cards, rubbing the blood off of them on my pants as I stashed them in my pockets.

The mask was making it harder to laugh, so, I took it off. It was just so fucking funny I couldn't stop from laughing. "They forgot the cards!" I yelled to no one and everyone. I laughed again, wiping the cards clean, finally seeing their secrets as I stashed them. The face and value of the card was hidden on the back in the corner. _Genius! _

I laughed some more, ignoring the tears coming out of my eyes, knowing they were betraying the way I really felt. I finally figured it out. I learned his secret!

I laughed some more as I fell to the ground, noticing now just how much of a unique smell this city had. It really was something special. It was no wonder Boss had sent us here. This place was amazing!

I laughed more and more and more, realizing just how truly amazing this place was. And Hizo was here to enjoy it with me!

**Boss**

It was the next morning when Zek came back. The camp was quiet that night as he offloaded Hizo's body. We buried it that same morning.

Zek never spoke a word.

I didn't blame him.

The body was buried by noon. Nobody had any words to say. There was nothing to say.

Logistically, we were better situated than ever before. We had one less mouth to feed, our tank was in perfect condition, we were loaded on fuel, and the Citadel garrison had donated food and water in the name of "helping the Fire Nation in its time of need." We had a chance of making it now. We had everything we needed to survive the rest of our trip.

So it came down to the question: Was it worth it?

At any other time, I would have said "no." In that time, however, we would have had the safety net of the Fire Nation logistic corps. We would have had a well-supplied army at our backs, and we would have been secure in every sense.

Now though, we needed everything we could get. And we had gotten what we needed. We received food, water, fuel, everything we would need.

But we lost a man. Two if you counted the state Zek was in.

It was a loss that would likely go on to haunt us for however long we lived, and it made me wonder: was this just the beginning?

We drove off that evening. We had lost another day, and another man. First it had been Haz, then Chez, now Hizo. We were down to 4 men and I was starting to doubt myself now more than ever.

I wondered how the hell I could keep my men alive amidst all of this.

Luke had known, if not exactly, the spirit of what awaited him within that city, and he had made the right choice. I hadn't. And I lost a man for it.

I'd lost men before, but it had been to combat. I had never sent a man to his death before. Today had been a first in that regard.

I had been presented with a decision, and I had no idea if I'd made the right choice. Time would tell. If we made it, it's possible I would have. If we didn't, well, at the very least, I wouldn't be around to remember the first of what was destined to be many hard decisions.


	2. Chapter 2: At Sea

**Boss**

Just one week ago, my biggest concern had been how I was going to word the plan to Luke. Just one week ago, I had been wondering how to put the words together to him in the most delicate way possible. Just one week ago, he had been the only concern I had. The only one I had to look out for.

Now there was only one person I didn't have to look out for: myself. Luke was Luke. Zek was grieving. And Gordez was losing faith. In me, the plan, all of it. The plan had been tough enough as was, but we were a man short now. I didn't blame the rest for having their reservation. Raava knew I did.

So for the next few nights, I spent the nights thinking, trying to piece it together. Make sure it could work. So on the night I had originally decided to tell the plan to Luke, to tell him that everything would work out, I ended up having to do it for 2 others as well, in the middle of a new moon, with the only light the flame we sat around.

"It's been a tough last few weeks." I acknowledged. There was no response from Luke. Gordez made what I imagined to be the shadow of a scoff, and Zek just stared at the flames a while longer.

"This war's given us a hell of a beating these last year and a half. There used to be 15 of us. You were there, Zek. I know you remember." Still, he stared at the flames. _What did he see in there?_

"Then we last Harreck, the Zee, then Chun, the Haz, and now Hizo. Just because we no longer follow the Fire Lord, that doesn't mean we're out of this war. Nobody's out of this war. Soldier, Civilian, Child, you're a part of this war, whether you like it or not."

Luke looked up from the floor now. Zek too. I imagine it may have been Hizo's name that raised his attention.

"It shouldn't be that way, but that's how it is. All of us have served long enough to see the horrors inflicted, both against us, and by us. People, uninvolved in this war, have been dragged in, conscripted, robbed, pillaged, raped, killed." I tried to avoid looking at Luke with the mention of that last word. Instead, I looked at those I had served with. "We've all done things we've regretted. We cannot be afraid to acknowledge the past. Gordez." He looked up. "You stole from a starving village so we could feed our own. A month later, when we passed that way again, the village had been abandoned for lack of ways to feed themselves. What happened next?"

Gordez was reluctant to speak. I wonder if he felt I had called him out particularly. That wasn't what I had intended at all. I knew that whoever I called first would receive the blunt. Unless it was me. That would just give the impression that it was something to get over with rather than something to actually acknowledge. But, still, even if it took him a while, he spoke. "They drove themselves right into the hands of slavers."

"What did the slavers do to them?" I asked. I was picking old scars. I knew, but it was the only way. I had to remind them why we were here.

"They. They raped the women and girls."

"And the men?"

"They made them watch. And they cut their throats once they broke the girls in."

"And the kids?"

"They made them fight. Made them kill each other to see who was strongest?"

"And what did you do?"

"We killed them all."

I nodded. How the hell would I get the others to speak after that?

"Zek."

He looked at me. _Good. _"In your first month of service, you had raped almost 5 women. All widows of men you had slain yourself."

Luke looked at Zek. It wasn't judgment that was in his eyes. Something else. _What though? _When he looked at Zek, was he now seeing the man Zek had once been, or was he seeing what Zek was now? A man who had thrown his past aside, risen above it?

"Other soldiers treated you like a legend. And you loved it. What changed?"

There was a pause as he looked into the flames again, wondering what to say. I knew the answer already. I had been there. "I killed one of them. In front of her kid."

"And what did you do?"

"I vowed never to touch a woman who didn't ask me to ever again."

"And have you?"

"No."

I nodded. Now for the tough one. "Luke."

He didn't look at me. He already knew where this was going. And he was one step ahead. "I killed a town of civilians."

"Why?"

"Because. Because I believed they had killed my friends."

"And did they?"

He shook his head. He shook it some more. And when he realized that wouldn't suffice, he said "No. No. They didn't. The Earth Kingdom did. The war did."

"And what did you do?"

I was worried I had cornered him, asked him a question I knew he had no answer to, but he took it in stride. With dignity. That belonging to a man who knew his errors, a and who vowed to never repeat them again.

"I don't know yet."

Good. I nodded. I sighed. My turn now.

"When I joined the army. I helped the Fire Lord to bring a people to the brink of extinction. We targeted anyone and everyone who could waterbend. We kidnapped them imprisoned them, tortured them, killed them. I went along with it. I didn't stop to think what I was doing. I just did it. We killed every last waterbender in the Southern Water Tribe. We killed an entire people. **I **killed an entire people. And I didn't do anything. I didn't right my wrongs. I didn't repent for my sins. The Southern Raiders were nearly dissolved, and I was reassigned. I had the chance to make up for what I did, and I didn't take it, but some of you still do. You still have the chance. We **all **still have a chance.

"If there was one thing we learned in our time at war, it's what it means to be a soldier. It's gone from being a job to being a warrior, to being a killer, but we all see now that it means something else. War is hell, but that's doesn't mean that those who wage it have to stoop its level. It doesn't mean they have to be corrupted by it. Soldiers are the deciding factor in what makes a war just or unjust. It is our decision that give a cause meaning.

"That cause is being lost. Under Iroh, we fought with purpose, with meaning, with honor, but he's gone now. He was a last hope for this war, for this nation, but he's gone now, but we're still here. This new Fire Lord and his new Fire Nation may revive the cruelty and hatred of the days of Sozin, and the Earth Kingdom may throw aside all it used to stand for in the name of justice, but we know better. We know that there is honor to be found in this hell. We just have to look for it. And we do this by helping those who cannot help themselves and hurting those who use their power to abuse those beneath them. Because that's what it means to be a soldier. To help those weaker than yourself. I don't know about the rest of the world, but we are soldiers. And we're going to fight.

"We may accomplish nothing. We may die horribly. We may see our actions have horrible consequences down the line, but that doesn't matter. What will matter is that we stood up for what was right, and we did what we could to help those who couldn't help themselves."

There was no cheer. I hadn't expected one. This wasn't to rile them. This wasn't to anger them. This was to waken them. And I did that much at least. They may have looked little different, but in their eyes, I could see the change. I knew that, come morning, they would be ready to fight.

I had intended for this night to be one to explain the plan that lay ahead, less figuratively and more literally. I planned to tell them about our roles tomorrow and who would do what, but they had enough of me talking for the night.

I would explain it tomorrow. And they would listen, because they listened to me tonight. Whether they looked it or not.

Did I have doubts? Sure, but did I have faith in them even more?

I did.

/

And so, the next day, a half day's ride away, we were there.

I had told them all about the facility on the way there. Fire Navy Disassembly Yard E-7, or as the Squad Iron Fire had grown accustomed to calling it, the dream crusher.

Ever since the Fire Navy had developed a new wave of heavy cruisers around 10 years ago, Azulon has decreed that his Navy would be making a shift towards a heavier reliance on their larger cruisers. Since, lighter ships such as the age-old destroyer have been systematically reduced to scrap to provide raw material for later classes of warships.

The name "dream crusher" was applied to such facilities, at least amongst what used to be squad Iron Fire as certain members including myself and Gordez had come to the squad from the Fire Navy and had developed a sense of affinity to these cruisers. Reliable, quick, but doubtlessly less armed and armored as the new variants. Perfect for battling the smaller and quicker Water Tribe navy, but with the renewed offensive against the Earth Kingdom, it only made sense to switch to bulkier, stronger variants. A sad, but understandable shift.

Hopefully when this was all over, the Fire Nation would stick to a variety. _I still think like a Fire Nation soldier. Am I not? Maybe I don't follow the Fire Lord, but the Fire Nation's still my country. Do the others feel the same way, I wonder?_

I had not just told them the background of the installation, but its layout. Well, Gordez told that part. To the best of his memory. He'd been stationed here at one point. As punishment. He had allegedly made modifications to his vessel, the F.N.S. Allegiance, without his captain's knowledge. The upgrades were helpful and increased the ship's performance, but the captain had no seen things that way and treated his acts as insubordination all the same.

A common occurrence in the military, no matter where. Superiors hated being proved wrong by those under their command.

Lucky for us though, we had Gordez as a result, **and **everything he knew about this facility.

He repeated himself at least 5 times in the tanks, trying to relay the facility's layout to us with no success. So he settled on doing it now as we viewed the facility from the top of a cliff that overlooked it, allowing us to see what he meant as he pointed out the different parts.

"There was the port, to the coast's north, where, by the looks of it, at least 50 Fire Navy destroyers were docked, all in groupings of 5." Gordez elaborated.

"Only the cruiser in the middle is sea worthy. The others are just "husks" to be towed to it pulled along. These destroyers are small, but their engines, well, they beat anything put out since, especially on those bigger ships. I'd bet anything one of these destroyers could push an Empire Class Cruiser to kingdom come if it so desired."

"To the south, with about half a mile put in between 'to help adjust their path' of open coast, was the dry dock with a functioning water lock."

"The 5 ships would be brought to the first segment, closed off. The water would be lowered to nearly nothing as the ships were untethered to one another, attached to cranes, and separated into 5 different dry docks where they would be disassembled individually."

"Disassembly takes about a weak. Lucky for us, we're right on time. Early even. Process starts at noon. You can see that group of cruisers over there, already grouped together. They have a skeleton crew onboard. About 4 to 6 guys. Just enough to get it moving. At noon, right after they eat, they'll take it out to go to the southern dry dock. So Boss. Wanna say the plan?"

_Gordez is back to normal. Good. _"Gladly."

I started. "The plan is this. There's not a lot of places to eat around here save the mess. This entire scrapyard is on a skeleton crew what with the siege. We're lucky Ozai hasn't gotten this place back to full operation yet. Anyway. It's about 1145 right now. We go down there, wait for the ship's crew to get something to eat. We jump them, take anything we need, hide them, and take their places on the ship.

"Once we're out to sea, we ditch the back two husks. The facility will probably send a patrol boat or two to check up on us and the husks. We deal with whoever comes to check on us, put them back on their boats, ditch the front two husks, and get on our ways."

"Sounds easy enough." Said Zek. _Not exactly himself, but, well, better. I guess._

"So far yes, but we all have our jobs to do. I'll be getting to the bridge, getting us on course. Zek, when our visitors come aboard, I need you to send them back home. Try talking to them, see if you can convince them there's some huge problem with the ship and it's about to blow up or something, or that Ozai sent you to deliver the cruiser directly to him, I don't know. It's likely going to end in a fight, so be ready for it, but do try to avoid any deaths. We don't need the Fire Nation branding us killers.

I saw the look that Luke gave me. 'Why am I not fighting?' I knew the look. He knew that I knew he could fight, but he made no complaints.

"Gordez, Luke, I need you two down in the engine room. The regular crew would generally get it running for just a small trip half a mile down south, but we're going to need more than that. Gordez will know what to do, Luke. Just do what he says, and we'll be fine."

Luke nodded his head. _And just like normal. His old silent self. Great._

"Then we all know what to do. Helmets on. We don't need the Fire Lord knowing our faces."

"Well I think he'd like my face," quipped Zek as he slipped on his helmet. It didn't cover his face unlike Luke's facemask appropriate to that of a firebender, but it did enough. I smiled. "Good to have you back, Zek."

"Good to be back, sir."

Soon enough. We were at the facility. The security was easy to sneak around. They only had 2 men on watchtowers, and I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't awake. _Oh how the Fire Nation ha fallen. _I rolled my eyes as we continued on.

We found the mess hall easy enough. It was the only other structure in this side of the base that wasn't the barracks.

It was a small metal structure, but definitely sturdy and in good repair. _At least they maintained themselves. _Clean too. Nice.

I snapped out of it. We waited outside of the mess hall. We could hear them inside. 4 by the sound of it. Unless one was very quiet. It would fit the number Gordez gave us.

I motioned to stack of soldiers behind me, Zek right behind me, then Gordez, then Luke. "Walk in like everything's normal. Split in 2, get behind their seats, and knock 'em out. Luke. You know what to do?"

He nodded. _Damn it, kid. Just talk. Is it that hard?_

I shook my head, tossing it aside. Whatever. "Alright. Casual now."

We walked in, overhearing the last bits of the troops' conversation:

"So anyway, she asked me if I'd ever been in combat before and I said, "Lady. You're looking at the guy who-"

The speaker was cut short by me slamming his head down against the table, knocking him out cold. And before any of the other soldiers had time to react, they were out cold. Zek had dragged his off his chair and punched him in his mouth, Gordez as choking his out, and Luke, well, Luke had grabbed his soldier's helmet off of where it was resting on the ground, and used it as a weapon, swinging it across his guy's head, knocking him out cold, face in his meal. A sorry display.

Zek was chuckling as he took his victim's chopsticks, wiping them off and helping himself to the meal in front of him. "Nice knockout, Luke.:

He then saw the looks that his companions were giving him. "What?" he asked. "You said take whatever we need. I'm hungry."

I smiled. "He's right," I said. Take whatever you need off of them and drag them somewhere secluded. Gordez, where's the bathro-"

I was interrupted by the ball of fire that headed straight in between me and Gordez. Zek stumbled to the ground, scurrying for cover as I kicked over the table, sending it over, providing cover for me and Gordez, sadly knocking whatever food remained onto the ground.

_Wait. Where's Luke? _He wasn't behind cover with me and Gordez.

A second blast of fire came towards me as I lifted my head to get a look. _Damnit. Somebody was going to hear this for sure._

"Base on alert!" I heard the troop yell. "We have." He was cut off by a blast of fire taking in the leg knocking him to the ground mid-sentence.

Then from behind the support beam where he had been taking cover, Luke revealed himself, approaching the fallen soldier who wasn't badly hurt, but merely down for the count, struggling to crawl away.

Luke unsheathed his short sword, and, _no._

The fallen troop voiced my own thoughts. "No. Wait don't."

I got up, vaulting over the table to stop him, but I was too late. The soldier tried to scream, but he was cut short. Not, however, by a killing blow. At the last minute, Luke flipped the sword in his hands, smashing the hilt of his sword against the soldier's head, knocking him out cold.

Of course. If course. He wouldn't do something like that. It was his country as much as mine. His people as much as mine. What had I expected?

"Shit." I heard from behind me. _No._

Gordez was on the ground, a grizzly scorch mark going across his chest piece near his side,

"Gordez!"

"It's fine. I'm fine. I'm not burnt."

"Zek, Luke. Grab what you can and hide the bodies. Meet us on board."

"Got it," said Zek. Luke nodded, and they hurried off to their tasks.

I helped Gordez up. "Can you walk?"

"Yeah. I think so-oh. Oh. No. I don't think I can."

"Alright. Arm around me. Let's go."

Getting on board was simpler than I imagined. The guide ship, the center ship, already had its docking ramp lowered onto the concrete port, its 4 retainers tethered to it at a safe distance, not too near, but not too far.

By the time I had gotten Gordez up the ramp, Zek and Luke had already gotten past me. They pulled the lever activating the mechanics that slowly shut the boarding ramp.

I set Gordez down right as the ramp shut.

"He good?" Zek asked.

Gordez?" I asked to confirm. "You good?"

"Yeah, ah shit. I think it broke my rib. That was a helluva punch.

_Damnit._

"Boss?" Zek interrupted. "We need to go. I doubt those soldiers we knocked out will stay out of it much longer.

_Shit. It all fell apart right away. How?_

"Gordez. Think you can still do your part?"

_Please say yes. Please say yes._

I don't think I can stand on my own right now, Boss. It's fine. I'll just tell Luke what to do.

I turned to Luke. Hell. I don't know if he was even listening to what was going on. He was looking around the ship. As though it were the strangest thing he'd ever seen. _There wasn't time for this. Shit. How could I trust him to do this?_

I looked back at Gordez. He was hurt. Bad. He'd make it, but I wasn't going to risk making it worse by putting him to work. We've lost enough as is. And here, on the ship, well, it was too late to turn back now.

"Luke," I said, rousing his attention. Listen to what Gordez has to say and follow his instructions to the letter. Can you do that?"

Luke looked at me, then to Gordez, back to me, and nodded. _Damnit, Luke. Please come through._

Luke went off to hear what Gordez had to say and I turned to Zek. Now the real trouble began. "You remember your part?" I asked.

"Oh yeah. I got this."

"Good. I'll see you on the bridge once this is all over. Do what you gotta do."

I wondered if he understood what I meant. We had our priorities in regard to our standing with the Fire Nation, but I wasn't losing any more men. If it came to the lives of my men and a few troopers, I knew which I'd chose.

We hurried off together, parting ways once we were on deck. I headed for the main command building, quickly climbing up the ladder that connected the levels, reaching the very top, the bridge.

I opened the hatch leading to it, shutting it behind me if worse came to worst. None of the lights were active. _Damnit Luke. You got this._

I spent the moments before the first light came on remembering how it had been steering the Southern Raider ship. I wasn't the captain or pilot, but it had become tradition back there to take turns at the wheel. It wasn't what I'd call professional experience, but it was better than nothing.

So I stood there, at the wheel, waiting. Waiting for the light that indicated engines were online to come to life, but the longer we took, the closer we were to missing our cue. And when that moment came, it meant patrols, and we would be found out. And we would be forced to fight. And in our state, we'd lose. _Come on, Luke. We're running out of time. Come on._

And the first light came to life. The engines were alive. The turbine was moving. Hell. I could hear it all the way from up here. Loud thing, that.

The coal was in, the fire was lit, it was burning, we were moving. Slowly. Too slowly. _Damn it. This was supposed to be a 5-man job. Not 3-men. _

We were moving though, and that was something. It took a few minutes for us to actually gain some momentum. And we were moving. Now came the tough part. Zek's part.

The other husks were connected to our vessel via multiple cables attached to the main deck. He had to cut the 2 rear ones first. And once he did, well, that would get this place's attention. And not in the good way.

And soon enough, I looked behind me to see 2 empty derelict Fire Navy relics drifting off into the noon horizon.

The reason we chose to cut only the 2 rear ones first? For one, drag. The second, 2 can be an accident, but all 4 at once, that warrants shooting on sight. That's no accident.

And as expected, the Fire Nation patrol was quick to pick up on our little "accident."

They signaled me, I signaled the "engine crew" through the many utensils available to me up here, and Luke did as he was told to do once more. I did what I had to do from my position up here, and Luke shut down the engine, and we slowed down to a halt.

I remained up here. It was Zek's turn now. There would be two ways that this would work. A, fighting would start, and that would be my cue to leave as fast as fucking possible. B, and very unlikely, Zek would find some way to talk his way out of this and signal me from the deck.

Not out of confidence, but out of trust, I left my position behind the wheel and walked onto the command deck, looking down onto the deck of the vessel, where Zek stood, clad in appropriate Fire Nation armor, awaiting the arrivals: a female Fire Nation security officer and 2 escorts.

I could hear the conversation from up here. Zek made sure of that, despite the fact he wasn't the first to speak.

"Soldier. Inform the pilot that you've lost your trail."

"Yes, ma'am. We are well aware. It was intentional."

"And why was it intentional, may I ask?"

"The 2 vessels we were trailing behind us had not yet been completely stripped of their navigational capabilities. I believe that whoever assigned these vessels to us failed to designate them correctly."

"You mean yourselves?"

"Yes. Of course. We made a slight miscalculation."

"And how did you notice this error, just now rather than earlier?"

"Well. What happened was that while powering up our own vessel, we noticed one of our husks powering up as well. Likely an electric malfunction, but we didn't want to continue dragging them with us for concerns of future errors."

"In your half a mile trip?"

"Exactly."

"I see. Allow me to regroup my men. They've been checking the other 2 vessels and we'll corroborate our findings to validate your claims."

"Of course. Take your time."

And the Fire Nation envoy re-entered their patrol vehicle, set off, and got the signal, but I didn't need to see it. We had to go. Now. I rushed back to the command bridge, sending the signal to the engine crew to set full speed ahead, and once again, it was a race against time as I waited for that light to come to life once more, but now, everything was on the line.

The Fire Nation patrol was still heading away, unaware of our very stressful starting up procedures.

_Come on, Luke. One last time. One last time. _

I was looking behind us. The Patrol crews were conversing and-and that was the sound of us ditching our last 2 husks. Zek cut the cables. And they noticed. They were speeding towards us.

_Come on, Luke. Come on!_

They were closer. There were 3 boats. 9 or 10 personnel in total. We couldn't take them. Not in the state we were in. There was only one chance of getting out of here. "Come on, Luke!"

And the light came to life once more, the turbine spun, roared, and the ship came to life, slowly at first. They were still catching up to us. _Come on. Come on!_

Then we shot to life. I didn't know what it was, but we did. I watched behind us as we left behind that forsaken facility and the officers who I didn't envy considering the job of filing the reports that lay ahead of them.

I don't know how long I stayed on that bridge. Long enough for Zek to have come to me first. And before I opened it to celebrate, I took note of our situation.

We were stuck at sea, with 3 able crew members. We had wounded on board. We had no food, we had to leave our tanks behind, and we were low on supplies. We had no money, no destination, and no idea what to do next.

But we were alive. We had made it another day. And right now, that's all that really mattered to me.


	3. Chapter 3: Saving Armored Shanzi

**Boss**

I damn near shit myself when the hatch opened behind me. For some reason, I had been expecting somebody other than my crew. Something with more, how should we say it? Malicious intent.

So I was clearly relieved when it turned out to only be Zek who came out through that hatch that led to the bridge. All the same, I stood there, back against the console, short sword raised at the entrance to which Zek raised both of his hands upon entrance, not actually speaking, but mouthing the word "woah."

It took me a minute to lower the blades, processing that it wasn't a foe that stood in front of me, but rather, my closest ally at the moment.

I let go of the blade, hearing it clatter to the metallic floor followed immediately by me sliding down the captain's podium down to the ground, the wheel shifting a few notches as I did so, but making no significant change.

"Are we clear?" I asked Zek, who had just walked up to the wall to my side, sliding down it as well all the way to the ground.

"I. I think we are. Did we really just fucking do that? Steal a damn cruiser from the Fire Nation?"

"I think we just did."

He scoffed. I wasn't sure if it was because he found the circumstances amusing, he didn't believe we were really clear, or something else.

"That was. Way to damn easy. I cannot believe we just got away with that."

_Of course we got away. We just stole a century old derelict fire nation cruiser from a Fire Nation outpost in the middle of Raava knows where right in the middle of one of the greatest shifts of power in the Fire Nation in history. Of course we got away with it. _Of course, I didn't say that much. There was no reason to.

"But we did," I said instead. "We did get away with it."

He chuckled. "So what did you think of my performance down there?"

I scoffed. "For a second there, even I thought you were telling the truth."

He laughed and I followed suit to offer what little encouragement I could.

The half hearted chuckled soon subsides. It was clear what was going through our minds. We were, for all intents and purposes lost. Nearly a year of preparation amongst ourselves back while we had served under Iroh had led to this. And now, we were there. We had the ship. We were right on track, but we were completely lost. It's a wonder even one of us managed to voice the shared thought pervading in the atmosphere of the bridge, but Zek got to it first.

"So what now, Boss?"

_What now? Great question. We are adrift in sea, heading south along the coast of a Nation that wants us dead. Chan's fleet is somewhere in this sea, north, south, east, or west, hell, maybe all. And they want us captured and hanged for deserters. We're short on food. We'd abandoned most of our supplies outside of the disassembly site and were adrift with little food, little water, and no money._

"Well. Before we do anything. We need to take inventory," I said, pushing myself off the ground. "Zek, get Gordez somewhere comfortable, and-" There was a look on Zek's face. "What is it?"

"We left Shanzi behind."

"Yeah," I said, pausing, wondering exactly what was going through Zek's mind regarding this tank, named after his now dead friend's girlfriend back in the colonies. "We did."

"That tank has inside of it all the food and other shit we got in Citadel. The stuff Hizo died for."

"You want to go for it?"

"We need the stuff. Food, water, hell, medicine for Gordez."

_He knew exactly what I wanted to hear. The solutions to all of my, no, our problems._

"The area could be crawling with Fire Nation. They'll be investigating what just happened."

"No they won't. Right now, they'll be too busy getting their husks back to the dock to worry about some tank parked outside the perimeter of their post. It'll be clear."

"What if when we stop, their patrols find us? What then?"

"It's as I said. They have bigger concerns than some derelict Fire Nation cruiser."

_Using my own thoughts against me. _I considered it for a moment. I really did. And when I opened my mouth to say the words "Be careful," nothing came out. Instead, I saw Hizo's dead body as we poured the dirt over his grave. The way his lifeless eyes stared up at me before I closed them as Zek had been too out of it to close his eyes himself. I thought of how just 1 month ago, Squad Iron Fire consisted of 15 able bodied men. Now, we were down to 4. I wasn't losing anybody else. Not when it could be avoided.

"No," was my answer.

He had expected the answer just as much as I had. Not at all. "Wh-what?" he asked. "But why? We need the stuff. Gordez is hurt and we need everything we can get our hands on. Who knows how long until we reach a friendly port where we can find some food and water?"

"Sorry, Zek, but no. I'm not losing anybody else."

"I can do this, Boss. I have to. I have to get Shanzi back. For Hizo."

_I had already crushed Zek's spirit once these last few weeks, but then, it had been both him __**and **__Hizo. Now one was dead, the other trying to avenge him. And I refused to picture a future where it was somebody else on this ship: Luke, Gordez, or hell, me, avenging Zek as he too had died._

"No. I'm sorry."

"But, Boss"

"I said No!"

I hadn't intended to yell, but I had. And Zek realized the futility of his situation. He turned to leave. I wanted to apologize. To say that I understood what he was going through, but there was no way to justify leaving behind his greatest friend's only possession. The only reminder left of him. There was no way to justify it as it simply wasn't justifiable. I was doing what I did to keep him safe. Us safe. I wanted to explain this all, but instead, merely said, "And Zek. Please find Gordez something comfortable and take stock of the ship with Luke."

He looked back at me for a minute there, his gaze like that of a beaten dog who no longer recognized his owner. And just so, his answer was a whimper. "Yes sir."

And with that, he left, leaving me to wonder just what the hell I was doing.

**Zek**

_I should have pushed. Damnit I should have pushed! Fuck! Why did I mention Shanzi? That made it personal. That's what did it!_

_ It's not even about the fucking tank! We need the food, the water, the medicine! All of it._

_ Damnit, Zek. Of course it's about the tank._

_ But it's about the supplies too. Stuff we need. Things that will help us._

I scoffed. "Take inventory" I murmured to myself as I climbed down the latter past multiple different stories in the main superstructure of the cruiser, passing levels that contained the dormitories, the mess hall, the armory, and the like.

_Sure. I'll take inventory. And when you realize that we have no food. No water. No medicine for Gordez, you'll realize. You'll see that I was right._

"Shit!" I grunted to myself as I slammed pen the door on the first floor of the superstructure, leading to the open deck of the ship.

I headed across the deck, taking in the midafternoon air, the smell of the sea, all of it. Sensations I was bound to become dumb to in all due time should things go according to plan. "Life at sea". I sounded the words out in my word. Not great. Not terrible, but it was our plan. The one we had made, all 15 of us, back in the Dragon's Camp, overlooking the great city of Ba Sing Se.

_And quite the great city it was. The city that killed half of everybody I ever knew._

I made a turn, going down into the bowels of the ship, passing the lower level dormitories for high ranking maintenance staff, deeper down to the motor pool/docking bay, where Gordez lay on a bench, sprawled out.

Hizo lied there again, throat slit, in the middle of Citadel. I held his body, begging for him to wake up. Of course, he never did, but I didn't know that at the time. I held him and begged him to wake up. That he'd go back to Shanzi. That they'd get married and have kids, but he never did. He was dead. And he stayed that way.

But Gordez wasn't dead. He shifted, grunted, and fell asleep again.

I breathed out, thanking whatever master of karma was listening. I forced myself to smile then, wondering if Gordez had slept through the entire series of event leading up to our presence at sea.

I decided to find out, approaching Gordez, shaking him at first, knowing full well I wouldn't be able to bring the big guy somewhere more comfortable without his cooperation.

I shook his shoulder, and all at once, he shot awake. "I'm awake! I'm awake! He yelled. Let's do this!"

I smiled. I was going to enjoy this. "Do what exactly, Gordez?"

"We have to go!" he said, stumbling off of the bench where he was lying, clutching his injured side as he attempted to stand. I helped him up. It was the least I could do as I made fun of him for missing the events. "The Fire Nation. They'll be waking up soon!"

"It's a bit late for that, Gordez."

"Wh-What do you mean?"

"They got us. They're keeping us down here until they know what to do with us."

"N-No. Wait. What? No. No we have to get out-we. Why the heck are you laughing?!"

I couldn't hold it in anymore. I burst out, reveling in Gordez's suffering as he looked at me, still drowning in confusion, asking "What's going on?"

It took me a while to catch a breath, but I did soon enough, saying, "You're good, Gordez. We made it."

"We made it? You mean I-"

"Slept right through it. Like a baby. Don't worry," I said, slapping him on the back. "We did the heavy lifting for you. Now come on, let's find somewhere for you to evade your duties in better comfort. How you feeling?"

"Like somebody through a ball of fire right between my rib cage," he said as I helped him move.

"Would you like some medicine to help you out?"

"Do you have medicine?"

"No."

"Why d'you gotta get my hopes up?"

"Well. Luke, if I can find him, and I, are about to check out this ship for anything useful. Food, medicine, I don't know."

"You won't find shit, Zek. Sorry to say. They stripped these things dry. Only difference between this and a husk is that this baby has a working engine."

"Well shit. That complicates things. Still doesn't mean we won't find anything."

"Yeah. Guess not. Who knows? One of those soldiers coulda been storing some vintage porno here."

"Hey who knows?" This room like good?" I asked as we got up the stairs to the maintenance dormitories, referring to the first one on the right.

"Yeah. This should be good. If anything, I'll look for a nicer one later and-. Oh what the hell?!"

The room was empty. And no. Not empty in terms of abandoned. The furniture had been stripped off the ground. No bed. No desk. No banners. Nothing.

I chuckled. "Damn, Gordez. You were right. They really did fuck you over."

"Oh you're laughing now. Won't be so funny tonight when you're sleeping on the floor."

"Nah. I'll be fine. I'll just sleep on top of you, big guy. Want me to set you down in a corner somewhere?"

"No. I'm good. Just let me go. Might do me some good to get some walking done."

"Alright. Your choice, and before I go. Know where Luke is?"

"Yeah. Engine room's where he headed before I, yeah. Never mind. He'll be there."

"Cool. Thanks, Gordez. See you!"

_And another reason we need Shanzi. We have sleeping bags in the tank._

I went back down to the motor pool, heading sternwards to the engine room, passing the individual boilers as they grew in size and quality, travelling under steam pipes, gas lines, all of it.

Unlike Boss and Gordez, I'd never been on one of these before. Never been out at sea as a matter of fact. Oh boy. The seasickness was going to be great.

I found Luke at the end of the engine room, leaning against the wall, directly in front a boiler, the one I presumed he had been putting his effort into keeping this thing moving. All on his own.

More people too. We need that more than anything. Don't think I have any in the tank, though.

All the same, Luke just sat there, sharpening his knife, in an image that didn't exactly convey comfort.

"Hey Luke," I said, rather too casually in an effort to not sound the least bit disconcerted. "You good?"

He nodded.

This silent Luke stuff was really going to get old soon.

"Great. Wonderful. Hey, look. Boss was wondering if we could take inventory on the ship. Se if we have anything useful on board. Sound good?" Mind taking the upstairs. Like the command structure and-. Yeah. You know what I mean. See ya."

I left before it was too late. _Holy shit, I knew he'd done something bad, but shit, what he told us. How he killed an entire town? Fucking hell. Not that we haven't done worse, but shit. He's 12. Fucking 12! Shit ain't right when a 12-year-old commits more war crimes than an average army does on a whole campaign._

I knew where to check first. 1 motor pool may have been empty, but the other may have given me more luck.

So I was there, at the stern of the boat, a level above the engine room, where I realized that such was the case.

In the middle of it, mounted on its deployment rails, in perfect condition was-

"A patrol boat," said Gordez who had snuck up behind me. "Nice find."

"Think it works?" I asked as I approached it, checking it for any exterior damage that might explain what it was doing on a soon to be demolished cruiser.

"No idea. No harm checking it out."

"Yeah. You check to see if there's any damage. Ima check it inside." I vaulted over the side of the patrol boat, not even budging it given its construction of solid steel that somehow still enabled it speed and agility. And buoyancy of course.

Everything inside seemed to be in working order and Gordez calling "Looks good to me" from outside was beginning to get my hopes up. It was all coming together. Except, _shit. No way._

I jumped off of the boat a few feet to the metallic surface, scanning the side for, there! I rushed to it, opening the latch, taking a whiff and, I recoiled. _Yeah. It's ready to go._

And so my questions were answered. I had been asking myself for an answer. And here it was. Undamaged, fueled, and ready to go. If it worked, we'd have a functioning tank, medicine, food, and water. If I was lucky, Boss would catch news of this soon enough and wait up for me. If I wasn't, well, best not to think that way.

**Boss**

Luke of all people came to see me that afternoon. I imagined it was to speak of something personal. Instead, he was merely the courier of the report of the inventory. He handed me his, reading, very simply "Nothing."

I wasn't surprised. What did surprise me was that Zek's report wasn't included. So I asked. "And Zek? Did he finish?"

Luke then handed me a second note. It read, too similarly, "Nothing. Off to change that."

And so until evening, I paced the ship dozens of times over as the sun began to sit as we waited near the coast on a motionless vessel.

And then that evening, he returned. I looked him in the eye as he piloted his patrol boat, Shanzi loaded onto it, into the rear dock of the cruiser as Gordez and Luke attached it and winched it into its spot, closing the bay doors behind.

And so that night, I found myself thinking again.

Because while Zek sat in the cell I had sent him to for the night, Gordez was resting, put to sleep by anesthetics, comfortably settled in a sleeping bag, Luke read a book he had left behind in the tank, and I sat, no longer worried about the next day, all of us with full stomachs and quenched thirsts.

I brought Zek's meal to him that night, sliding it under his cell door, all perishable meals made for the army, but absolutely better than nothing.

And as I turned to leave, I was shocked to see him be the first to speak, "I'm sorry, Boss. I know you were looking out for my safety, but so was I. I know there's only four of us, and you don't want to lose anymore, but there are only four of us. You can't do this alone. You have us here to help you. That's why we joined. You're our Boss, and we'll follow you to the end, but we're not your children. We're soldiers. And soldiers fight.

Those same words haunted me as I lay in a sleeping bag in what was intended to be the captain's quarters, and I thought. Thought long and hard. And realized that everything he said was right. I couldn't protect them forever.


	4. Chapter 4: The Family

**Zek**

We've been at sea for just over a week now. And we're still alive.

I want to say it's all because of me, and, in a way, it is, but I gotta say, we'd all be dead if Boss hadn't saved our asses there. Hell, we'd all be dead if everyone hadn't done their part.

*1 Week Ago*

"We still have about a week's worth of food here," I said, examining the rest of the contents of Shanzi that were still stored in her rear. I winced. Any other day, with Hizo around, I would have made a countless number of jokes about Shanzi's present predicament. Unfortunately, he was buried at what was beginning to seem like half a world away. Another life.

I shook my head, looking at the food we had stored away from Citadel. The price of his Hizo's life. There were, of course, ration packs, stale bread, some old cheese, some eggs that shouldn't be bad yet, and even some meat from the outpost.

None of them would last long hanging around here.

"A ship this size has gotta have a freezer or something, right Gordez?"

"Of course. A normal ship would, but this one was about to be destroyed when we stumbled upon it. Wouldn't be surprised if they took it out."

"Well shit," I said. "Might as well check. Where would it be?"

"One would be down here in the mess. Another could be in the superstructure in the command lounge, or, well, what's left of it."

Alright. Luke, wanna check that one?"

From where he was standing behind the two of us, he shrugged and turned around to get to the task.

And as soon as he was out of earshot, "For fuck's sake, that kid," I said.

"He went through a lot."

"So have we."

"He's 12."

"Yeah. Yeah. I know."

I sighed, realizing the real gravity of just how fucked up this whole situation was. "Whose dumbass idea was it for the child conscription anyway?" I asked.

"That would be Sozin," Gordez said mater-of-factly.

"Sozin. Of course it was Sozin." I took a breath, realizing now that my own country was back to where it had begun. Sozin, despite what the Fire Nation taught us, was far from a hero. The validity of his actions in establishing the colonies and declaring war on the Earth Kingdom can be debated. I for one have come to believe that it was for the best. Before the Fire Nation made landfall on the Earth Kingdom shore, what were now the 16 colonies had been just small fishing villages, miners' towns, struggling to survive on a daily basis. Then the Fire Nation came along, and, beyond all shadow of a doubt, brought peace, prosperity, security.

And the War on The Earth Kingdom. While it was harder to justify, still was within the realms of reasons. 95 years ago, when the war began, the Earth Kingdom was just a collection of tribes and warlords who pled half-assed loyalty to a man they never met sitting in a castle larger than some countries. Those who knew of the King's real power, bowed to him as the first step on a long path to become him. Those who didn't know, lived in fear of him and pledged their fealty to avoid his supposed wrath.

And to an extent, it still was that way today in what was left of the Earth Kingdom. When the Fire Nation came by, mostly under Azulon as Sozin had already abdicated to search for the Avatar, order was brought to these tribes, these warlords. Regional governments were established, governors risen from the towns, mayors too. Order was brought, and consequentially, peace.

Azulon was the shadow of hope that maybe things would start getting better. And to an extent, they did, but he was still his father's son. He launched campaign after campaign to kill every last waterbender. And while our history books taught us as kids that it was only because the Water Tribes had joined the Earth Kingdom in the war (which was true), the elimination of a people is never justified.

The same goes for the Air Nation army. So even if our books were right, and the Air Nation attacked first, an entire culture, an entire history was lost. Where's the justification in that?

Then Iroh was the promise that all the promises of his forefathers were finally here. Peace, security, integrity, honor. He was on the precipice of winning the war, then all at once, everything went to hell. His son, another hope for the Fire Nation's future, fell in combat, his death verified by Luke himself. Azulon died of his age, Ozai rose to his place of power, illegitimately no one in the army doubted.

Maybe the homeland, or hell, even the colonies believed the story, but nobody in the Fire nation army with the right mind would ever buy it. We knew Iroh, the Fire Lord who was promised. We knew that Azulon would never name Ozai his heir. Talk of defection was rampant that morning. Talks of civil war were even more so. Soldier after soldier, squad after squad, company after company swearing that if it came to it, they would follow Iroh to the end.

_Maybe that's where we should be. Not trying to break a wheel and try to save those who will always be beneath the soles of whoever was at war._

"What do you think of Boss' plan?" Gordez asked me as though he were reading my mind.

And I was ready for the answer. "I think he's an idealist. I agree with everything he wants, but it's not realistic."

"Quick answer."

"You feel differently?"

He paused for a moment. "No," he eventually said. "Boss wants to do the right thing, but will it work, maybe, but will it be as he intended, I don't think so."

Of course we were of one mind when it came to the reasonability of Boss's plan, but this was a criticism I was foreign to. "What do you mean?"

Gordez closed Shanzi's trunk, in a fashion that once again would have preluded a number of precise jabs aimed at Hizo's pride. "Boss wants us to be the ones who defend the innocents of this war, civilians."

"Right."

"How do we keep that up? Just look at us right now. The only weapons we have are those we came with. The only armor is the same ones we've been wearing for almost 2 years now, well, except for Luke's but that's not going to be fitting us any time soon."

I smiled. It was good to see Gordez was still capable of joking. He was shy by nature, undoubtedly introverted. His time to shine was one-on-one, face to face with whoever he was talking to. And shine he did. "So how do we keep supplied?" he continued.

"We only have food thanks to you, and some water and medicine too, thanks for that, feeling a lot better by the way. How do we keep in good supply? The week in Shanzi, maybe good for a week. Boss wants to help these civies out of his own kind heart. That's great, but how do we get what we need? Start charging? Then we're just mercenaries, and what difference does it make. Something I noticed about the poor and mistreated, the ones we're trying to protect, in the last 2 years, they aren't rich. So do we start doing work for others? Those with money? Well, we're just mercenaries then. And something I noticed, those with money tend to be the ones fucking over those without. So then what the hell are we?"

"Lost," I answered.

"Exactly. I see no good way this ends."

"We need to trust Boss," I said. "He's a smart guy. He'll figure something out. He'll see something we don't."

"I hope you're right. I trust him too, but starving at sea isn't how I want to go, nor killing for some rich asshole in a big mansion."

"We won't," I said, despite the fact that I myself was beginning to doubt that very statement as I said it. I didn't want to think about this anymore. "I'm going to check the mess down here. Maybe find a freezer that still works."

"Alright. I'll head to the engine room. We'll need to load some more fuel, but there may be some breakers I can screw around with an get power running to this ship."

"Yeah. Good idea. Best of luck, then."

So from the motor pool, I turned, going down the hallway leading to the dormitories for the chief engine staff.

It was easy to tell from being on this boat for just over a day that there was a clearly defined caste system. You had the engineering personal, who stuck below decks. As I could see now, much like the upper decks, they had dormitories for their chief personnel, but nothing so lavish as the rooms for military and naval personnel who resided in the command structure that rose above deck. The engineering crew, as I saw now as I passed through, had their own barracks with what I counted to be 18 bunks. That and the separate private rooms counted up to 26 personnel in the engineering crew of this vessel. I eventually found the kitchen too. A rather small one at that, though suitable to seat 26, albeit cramped, though I imagined the 8 "superior" engineering crew didn't share the miniature cafeteria.

There was no captain's lounge per se as there was in the command structure, but an auditorium of sorts with enough seating for the engineering crew, hell, the entire ship, around a shared fire pit.

Looked like it would be cozy on a rainy day, situated below decks right next to the storage room, not too far from the engine room and boilers. Plenty of warmth for the cold. I imagined that may have been its intention, and as we neared winter, it started to seem viable as an option for where to spend the nights, especially given the benches that lined the walls providing ample sitting or lying space.

I took note of it as I moved into the kitchen, noticing that the tables hadn't been stripped. Another indicator of Ozai's up and coming military strategy? More metal goes to ships, less to commodities. I sighed, thanking whichever lord of karma was listening that we got this ship while we could. It was small, unfurnished, but in a way, cozy.

I moved past the steel benches and tables that would have been scrap metal if it weren't for our little escapade, moving into the kitchenette, and into the freezer, opening the great steel door, fidgeting with the door handle as I did so, until, all at once, it open, swinging open, into a room temperature room.

_Damnit!_

I slammed the door shut, which took a sad amount of effort given the strength of the door that was originally intended to seal in all now non-existent chill into that one spot. "Damnit." I grumbled.

"That one doesn't work either?" I had completely forgotten about the other voice in our little crew of deserters.

"Oh right. You're not mute," I joked, instantly regretting it lest I send him into another stage of silence.

"Had nothing to say earlier."

_Damn, this kid was dark. _I remembered when we first met outside of the outer walls of Ba Sing Se when he first joined us. He was a different person then. Still seen his share of action, but nothing like what the next weeks brought him after that. Couldn't say I didn't understand the state of mind he was in. He was just a kid. Hell, we all were, but him more so. Was glad I wasn't the youngest for once though, so that helped in having him around. I was 15, Luke was 12. Despite that, though, they always still seemed to see me as such. And they treated Luke like the fighter he was. I couldn't blame them. They were right, but I'd been hoping that when Luke joined squad Ironfire, I'd no longer be treated like the youngest. Guess I was wrong.

"Understandable," I said. "Yeah. This one doesn't work. Guess we're going to have to find some other way to-"

I was interrupted by the rock of the ship, the hum of generators, the hissing of steam pipes, and the sudden sounds of the freezer coming to life, and doing it's given duty.

I was so taken aback in my effort to open the freezer to make sure it was working that I didn't notice Gordez who came up behind me to say, "I wouldn't open it yet. Give it time to even out."

"Got it working, huh Gordez?" I asked.

"Yeah, well, part of it. With just the few people we got managing the ship's power, we can only have so much power at a time. Auxiliary power should be fine though. We have a freezer, plumbing should be pressurized now so we can take shits that aren't off the boat's side and keep us moving most importantly. We'll have no lights though. We'll need torches."

"First we need wood."

"First we need everything."

A day passed. It snowed the next morning. The first snow of the winter, at sea, hugging the Earth Kingdom coast.

Another day passed. We were eating lunch at an actual table in the cafeteria. A nice meal of Luke-warmed MREs.

And as our little trio sat there, we overheard the sound of the ship's pa system coming to life, which was just a system of tubes running through the ship from one speaker to another in key locations. In this case, the kitchen. The faceless voice stated, "Gordez, thanks for the power, but all of you get to your stations. We may have an issue."

I made the decision to answer the call, for one reason or another, asking "What are our stations?"

"Just come up here. I need to speak with all of you."

I put a hand on the speaker, turning to the two watching from a distance, one disapprovingly, and the other with a blank look in his eyes, and whispered "He's got a temper this morning."

"Can't blame him," Gordez said.

"Must've woken up on the wrong side of the steel floor," quipped Luke, surprisingly.

I smiled, turning back to speaker, saying, "Coming right up!"

**Boss**

I wish the map had been wrong, but it wasn't. I swear I'd just seen that island. And if we were only at that island, well, we were barely trudging along, on just an emergency's load of coal in the boiler room. It was a miracle we were still moving at all, but not quick enough.

The bridge was more spacious when it was only one aboard. Definitely more so too than the bridge of the Southern Raiders' ships. Those had been built for speed, wrath, and brutality. There were no expenses to be spent on comfort. Not with that lot.

The hatch to the bridge opened up from behind me where I had placed the map atop the compass in the center of the bridge. Out of it, came Gordez first, then Zek, and finally Luke.

Gordez was right on it, as I moved aside for the only other soldier here with maritime experience. He was already, the seafarer he was, looking out the windows on the bridge to the shore, scanning for landmarks. He noticed it too. We weren't anywhere close near where we had to be.

Zek and Luke stayed back. This wasn't their expertise. Neither was it mine for that matter, but Gordez, well, so long as he was up here with me, we'd figure something out.

"We're already past the horn then?"

"Yes. Almost at the strait. And knowing Chan-"

"He'll be cutting through the serpent's pass too. Shit. He's right behind us."

"That's not the worse part."

Gordez looked at me, fear in his eyes as he made the revelation.

"You don't think."

"I saw the black snow this morning. Iroh's host. They're embarking if they haven't already."

"And they'll be waiting for Chan's fleet as an escort. We have no room to turn around or we'll be caught by Chan, and if we reach Iroh's host first, then we're still traitors. Try as he might, Iroh can't protect us."

"No." said Luke from where he stood on the bridge near the back.

Normally, I would have smiled at hearing his voice again, but right now, there was too much concern in me to worry about anything other than what he had in mind.

"But we can protect them," he continued.

"Protect them from what?" Gordez asked. Chan?"

"No. A number of things. Pirates, raiders, Earth Kingdom. If we can get through the strait quick enough," he said, moving up to the map which he had already had memorized apparently judging by his knowledge of the strait beforehand, and pointing it out, tracing along it up until he reached the serpent's lake, "We can group with Iroh's host, say we're there to just patrol and scout ahead for Chan. When Chan's fleet gets there, we just ride along with them through the channel out into open sea, and part ways."

"Chan will know if there's just some random ship following along. And besides, with out fuel and how close Chan is behind us, we'd never get through the strait in time, much less beat Chan there."

"One, Chan may not use destroyers, but Iroh still does, at least I remember hearing that he ferried his troops with them. One extra ship will cause no concern to anyone."

"But we would have just told them that we were sent by Chan."

"We just came back from a historic defeat. I don't think our guys are going to be chatting much on the way home, much less from ship to ship. No. We go in, say Chan sent us, if they ask why we're in a destroyer, say we were rerouted, and go along with them"

Now I spoke up. "That still doesn't solve the issue that we can't get past the strait before Chan."

He paused. That had been the one detail he had hoped to avoid. "Aren't there." He paused. "Are there any currents we can follow or something?"

Zek sighed from the back. He had believed the plan, at least for a minute there, but now-

"Wait" I said. There could be."

"Alright." Zek said. "But even if there were, we have no idea where they are. I doubt the Fire Nation just left any current maps behind.

"We don't need one," Gordez spoke up. "I have it memorized."

We couldn't find Gordez the writing utensil he needed, so with a small chunk of coal that we fully intended on burning later, Gordez drew out the lines and curved marking the currents that ran in our general vicinity, and as it turned out, we had been against the current for the last day.

So Gordez found it. The route that took out far out of our way, on a far larger detour, but we did the math, and Luke verified it simply by not objecting. Kid may have grown up on the streets, but I pulled his files. Everything available on him when he joined our squad. Kid was smart. More than smart.

All the same, we found it, the route we needed.

So we made the alteration in course and headed out. I only hoped Chan didn't have the same idea.

We found out a day later when we reached the strait that led into the serpent's sea, and we were all alone. We made it, but not by much. I could see the smoke behind u

And we made it through, unscathed, until we saw them, waiting right at the exit of the strait. They had destroyers. Good. And as we expected, there was no fight in them.

There was no way to tell that Iroh was even there. If he was, he was in no way diligent. _Who can blame him? His son just died. The symbol of the Fire Nation was dead._ The army's morale was gone to shit.

We met with their destroyer. By the time we did, it was evening, dark enough to let the lie slide. I did my part. Gordez and Luke were keeping us powered, and Zek was, well, Zek was being Zek.

**Zek**

I tightened the helmet. The more disciplined, the better. I saw the destroyer approaching us. The FNS Victory, but the Victory had been painted over and it now read "Defeat."

I winced at it. It was our defeat as much as theirs. And we left the Fire Nation at their weakest moment. What did that make us?

I pushed the thought out of my head, instead thinking of what our ship's name used to have been before it had been wiped off.

_Oh Shit. We have no name._

And of course, that was the first thing that the boarding party asked when they came aboard. Well, the fourth.

The first was "Wait a minute. That's not a navy uniform. What? Run out of them and decided to dress like us?"

"No sir," I replied. I had been waiting for the question. "Army."

"Then what are you doing her? And where the hell is everyone?"

"We got picked up by the coast. Our unit got chased off by Earth Kingdom cavalry. We were lucky to be picked up at all. And the rest of the crew's asleep."

"Of course they are. Damn navy boys. Bet you they had more than enough men to take the city from the north if they really wanted to. Traitors if you ask me."

"Agreed. They don't know what we've been through."

_Was I speaking from the heart? Even a bit? Maybe. It's true, we had our differences. Save Luke, I was the only one here who didn't have Navy experience. Sure they all joined the army together, but there was something different between us. Was it devotion, loyalty, honor? No. Not honor. Definitely not honor that was his issue._

"Well. Glad to see you made it. You get a new post yet."

"Not really."

"Yeah. Me neither. Holy Raava, it all went so far south so quickly. Oh and hey, we saw no name on the ship while we were coming in? Why is that?"

"You know," I said, thinking of what bullshit would com to the top of my head. "I. I have no idea. Want to ask the captain?" I asked, motioning to the bridge.

He looked, and as I hoped, shook his head in disgust at the idea of interacting with any more Navy personnel, and said, "Nah. I'll pass. So why you here anyway? Chan send you to babysit us?"

"Yeah. We're scouting ahead. Making sure the way's clear."

"Well. We're here all round up waiting for papa Chan to guide us home."

"Well. I'll see if I can tell him to pick up the pace."

"You do that. Alright then. Glad to have you around. Could use some more army boys."

"Agreed. Well see you around."

"Oh Hey. Wait. Is there anything I can get you and any other army boys on board?"

"No no. Nothing. Well. Some food would be nice. Water too."

"Done. Anything else?"

"Got any coal you can spare for the engines?"

And with that, 2 tons of food, water, and coal later, the soldier left back to his patrol craft to return to the caravan of troops being ferried back home from the greatest military defeat known to the Fire Nation.

And in time, Chan's fleet arrive, and we were the escort for Iroh's caravan. For 3 days we rode through the serpent's lake, and his channel out to the Earth Kingdom west coast.

I had spent many of these nights on the FNS Defeat, gambling, drinking, the like.

And so, all those days later, we stopped for one final check with the same crew, same soldier from the FNS Defeat.

"Appreciate the guidance. You boys following us home?"

"No," I said. "We're going to be headed south I think. Got an assignment down there."

"You not going home?"

"No. Don't have one."

"Well. If that's the case, me and the boys were talking. We're headed back to the Fire Nation, but not the same one we left behind. This new Fire Lord: Ozai. He's not out Fire Lord. We're going to be seeing if we can get the real heir on the throne. His son may be head, but he still lives. It's what Azulon would have wanted. It's what the Fire Nation needs. You in?"

And he extended his hand, and in that moment, I almost raised it, hell, I think I might have a few inches, but I stopped short. I was being given a chance there, a chance to make a change, but there was one key difference between these soon-to-be-revolutionaries, and those who waited for me back inside our small stolen vessel. We had a leader. A good one too. One who I knew would get us through what lay ahead. So my answer was, "Thank you, but I've got a crew. I agree with everything you say, but it's not for me."

He lowered his hand, but smiled all the same, "You're a good soldier, Zek. Hope I see you around. We could make a difference, your guys and mine."

"Maybe, Kazen. Another time."

"Well. Best of luck to you."

"And Kazen?"

He turned around before he left for good. "Yeah?"

"Get organized. This Ozai. He doesn't strike me as the type to sympathize with those who want him gone."

Kazen chuckled. "That he doesn't. That's why we're here, though. See you around, Zek!"

"You too."

And with that, the crew of the FNS Victory set off alongside the Fire Nation fleet back towards the homeland, where no doubt, the future awaited them, one way or another.

For me, however, everything I needed was right here, aboard this nameless vessel.

And so that evening, as we head south to search for the nearest port, I realized that this was my family now. For better or worse, we were together. Without one another, we were dead, but together, we were strong. I needed them, and they needed me. They knew it from the beginning, but now, finally, I knew it too.


	5. Chapter 5: The First Job

**Boss**

Just one week ago we were on the other side of the continent. Such was the beauty of the serpent's pass. It was no small wonder that the Fire Nation had always possessed ambitions to control the passage, but now, with the loss of Lu Ten, the retreat of Iroh, and the withdrawal of most Fire Nation forces, it seemed that ambition wouldn't be realized any time soon.

The war was a day away from victory. When Ba Sing Se falls, the Earth Kingdom falls. It was that simple. We were on the verge of victory. And we lost. I was a Fire Nation patriot, never stopped being one. I loved my country and its people. I disagreed with a few key points of our strategy: the exploitation of civilians, though the Earth Kingdom did the same, the genocide of water benders, and now, the disregard for Iroh.

I still refused to believe that Azulon would abandon his first born that way, but that wasn't my fight. I wasn't a politician, and I refused to get involved in a civil war that would turn me against my own country, but I couldn't serve it either. I knew Ozai by reputation only, but that was enough.

We all had a separate purpose now. Perhaps some in my crew wished we were doing more, but what we were doing now was work that should have been done decades ago. I was content to leave it be when we were on the precipice of victory, but now, in a war that could last decades longer, it was time that the true victims of this war saw the help they needed.

I looked at the map on the table with Gordez. He had taken the liberty of drawing all other currents he could memorize, and we've been making better speed, riding them, letting them carry us. We've been saving on fuel as well, but our combined estimate said we only had about a month's left. It sounded good now, but there was the issue of where we would even find such resources.

"If we've been following the current for the past few days, we should be here, no?"

"More or less. Heading right towards the southern air temple islands. We should probably leave it soon and head inland."

"Agreed," I said. "I'm thinking we keep doing south along the burning sea and we leave at around this point." I pointed at the map, just due north of the whaletail strait.

"You thinking of heading into the JianJiang?" Gordez asked. The JianJiang was a small passage leading into the earth kingdom for quite a few miles, but no, that wasn't my intention. Too much attention there. Easy to get trapped.

"Not quite. Too much attention. Too dangerous. I'm thinking of riding the blue sea north a bit and heading into the Nip sea."

"What there? Just swamp"

"And a good amount of fishing villages. I'm thinking we get some food, some rods, enough to let us fish on our own. We can take the boat out to fish when we need it."

"Well. Hey, you're the boss. And besides, this was your theater in the navy. Not mine."

"Don't remind me," I said, joking, but in reality, wishing not to be reminded any more of my time with the Southern Raiders. It was a low point in my career. They had no regard for anybody save themselves. They passed themselves off as a branch of the military, but in reality, they were glorified pirates. They raided whoever they could, Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation alike, but they always came out on top as for one reason or another, they had Azulon's favor. I was glad to be done with them.

"Well then. I'll tell the crew to get the engines ready."

"Good idea. I think Luke's shift's about done anyway."

"Hey, I'll try, but he just refuses to leave. Didn't yesterday, the day before, or-"

"I get it. Just ask anyway. Give him the option."

"Of course."

With that, he left, and I looked out the bridge into the horizon. It was a sad story behind the Burning Sea and its name. Story was that when Sozin attacked the Southern Air Temple personally, hundreds of air nomads tried fleeing on their bison to the north, across the burning sea.

One by one, with his dragon that was renowned for being as aggressive and ruthless as its master, Sozin brought down each bison over the sea, showing no mercy, returning to finish his job, ensuring no survived. And with the power of the comet at his back, nothing was left in his wake save ashes and floating corpses, giving the sea its long-standing name.

I put the thought out of my head as we passed by, trying not to swell on the fact that it was my country that had done this. I used to believe it was all in the past, but with Ozai, I saw new fears rising from the ashes I once thought dormant.

I carried on, shifting course when the time came. At this rate, if I was right about where Gordez's current would take us, we'd be by the Nip coast this time tomorrow.

With the course set, there was really no need to remain up in the bridge, save any unforeseen circumstances of course. However, I didn't expect any such. We'd personally seen Chan's fleet out of the passage into the open sea headed towards the homeland. The Earth Kingdom was still likely in disarray given recent events. It would be time until they were ready to start reasserting their claims. _The longer the better._

I headed away from the bridge on that note, taking the latter down through the levels, passing the levels containing the officers' quarters, the armory, the mess, and the troop dormitories.

Or at least, that's what those rooms would have been had they been occupied by man or object alike. They all stood empty, sad reminders of the new path the navy was taking. Just like that, years of active and proud service had been stripped from this vessel and reduced to scrap. I shook my head as I dismounted the latter, now on even footing with the main deck. Completely empty. It was nigh impossible to tell there were even others aboard. _All belowdecks, keeping the ship alive._

I'd considered going down before, to help with the running of the engine, but there had been one thing I'd learned in my career: the officers didn't lower themselves. It sounded like a dick thing to say, but I knew that's how it was. There was a level of respect and acknowledgement of superiority that had to be acknowledged. We may not have been in the Fire Nation anymore, but they chose me, for better or worse, to lead them. And I was going to do just that.

I shook my head, turning back towards the command structure, but turned around. These were my friends though. And there were only 4 of us. The job ahead of my crew was one not even designed for only twice their number. I shook my head and turned towards the stairs that led belowdecks. Why should I live in comfort up on the command deck while the rest worked to keep us afloat?

So a few minutes later, I climbed down the ladder leading from the catwalk to the engine room where an unholy heat pervaded as Zek, Gordez, and even Luke, against orders, continued to work as he had been since morning.

His eyes were heavy, eyelids drooping, arms slowing. I put a hand on his shoulder, and he turned around. "Get some rest, Luke," I said. "That's an order."

He closed his eyes for a blink that lasted longer than any blink should to the point I feared he'd collapse then and there, then opened them again and nodded his head, dropping his coal shovel to the ground and stalking off to the shell of a room he'd picked as his own, and headed off for some much-needed sleep.

"Well thanks, Boss," Zek said. "Now we have one less shovel."

I picked up Luke's shovel where he'd dropped it, sweat soaked and unsanitary by any normal officer's standards. But I wasn't any normal officer.

I stuck the shovel into the coal pile on the side, compliments of the FNS Victory, and headed to work.

I looked back at where Gordez and Zek were eyeing me suspiciously. "No you don't," I said, and headed back to work.

"Well thanks, Boss," Zek replied. "Could've not waited until now, but thanks anyway."

I chuckled anyway, reveling in the company of my crew, my friends, and headed off to work, all the glad for it.

And in reasonable shifts, hard work, and sweat, lots of it, we arrived ahead of schedule. It had only taken me making slight course alterations every hour or two, and the last I checked, the coast was in sight. We were there.

So coal shoveling ceased as we used our remaining fuel to search for a viable sight of civilization until we found it, a fishing camp, an outpost.

So we stopped a fair half mile from the coast. Gordez chose to stay onboard for this one. Claimed "He wasn't giving up his sea legs anytime soon." So we left him as security and headed to shore aboard the nice and compact patrol boat that was safely secure in our rear.

We realized as we approached the fishing outpost that it was occupied. We were hardly presentable, all of us in sweat-soaked uniforms from the works, dirty from lack of bathing save the occasional swim, and tired, but we had weapons, and from what we saw as we approached, these fishers didn't seem the type to start a fight. All the better.

Yet when we stopped, as Zek and Luke tethered the skiff to the dock, we were approached all the same and greeted with, "So you finally come back."

And there was a solid pause there. It didn't take long to understand his meaning. _The uniforms _I realized, looking down.

Zek and Luke waited, unsure of what was going down here. Were we Fire Nation today? Or defectors. They looked at me for a decision, while I waited for more information.

"What do you mean?" I asked the aged fisher, a man I'd put at 50 or so, white haired, poorly shaven, and bearing signs of disease. _Best not get too close, _I told myself.

"You Fire Nation folk! You came by here, taxed us all to hell, promising protection, then all leave in a hurry? Who do you think you are?"

I made a decision then. No point lying to the man, especially when the lie of Fire Nation involvement wouldn't exactly paint us in a positive light. "We're not Fire Nation."

"Well you sure look it!"

"We used to be Fire Nation. Not anymore. Not after Ozai took over."

"Bah! Sozin, Azulon, Ozai. All names I don't care about! It's all the same anyway."

I opened my mouth to argue, but the man wasn't done. Not by a long shot. "What I **do **care about is my town. Ever since you fire breathers left, raiders have been breathing down our neck. I'm not saying I miss your taxes, thieves that you are, but it was preferable to this nonsense."

"We told you. We aren't Fire Nation."

"You think I care?!" he yelled, waving his arms in the air in an exaggerated manner. "I just want them to stop!"

Then it hit me. _This is it. _"Could you use any help with these raiders?"

"Could I?! You're darn right I could!"

And as I heard Luke and Zek stand, presenting themselves in a characteristically professional and intimidating matter, I said, "We could help you out."

"Hmm hmm. Got any more boys on that ship of yours?"

_Oh boy. _"Just one."

The answer we got wasn't particularly what we had hoped for. "Bwahahahaha!" He began laughing. "Baha. Hahahaha." He wiped the tears flowing from his eyes as, I admit, my patience began to run thin."

"Thank for the laugh, lads, but you didn't have to get my hopes up like that."

"We're not joking," I said, tension inadvertently rising in my voice, I only realized after the fact.

"Oh please. Bunch of boys like you? Look at that one! He's shorter than me!"

I turned back to see where he was pointing at Luke, who was unphased for the most part. I imagine he was used to it by now. "We're serious," I reminded the man. "We're soldiers. You don't get here by not being serious."

"Wish you told that to the men you had 'protecting' our town. Fine. You want to make a difference, come see our town. Maybe you'll be of some use and buy something."

And so we followed him along the dirt trail that led through into the woods. It was a short walk of 10 minutes until we reached the town. But calling it a town was too much of a compliment. Perhaps it had been at one point, but now, it was barely a settlement.

Dead livestock lined the street, killed by disease, being picked for meat by wandering birds. _What better way to spread disease? _The houses, or better put, hobbles were falling under their own weight, on the verge of collapsing in on their inhabitants at a moment's notice. No shops were open. Whatever food was in the town wasn't about to be sold, no. It was being hoarded by whoever had it last, assuming there was even food going around in this village. As we passed through, the eyes we earned the attention of were not kind.

"Welcome to Shibi! Or what's left of it. You can see our crop fields to the east, or what's left of them," said our fisher now turned tour guide. "Raiders grabbed what they could and burned the rest."

"What about water?" I asked.

"Normally, we'd have the Gujia, but raiders are camped right by it, harassing anybody trying to pass through or collect water!"

"How many of them are there?"

He turned to me, stopping. "Don't you see what I'm saying, lad! They did **this **to us!" He said, motioning towards what was left of his home. "They're held up in some old Fire Nation fort too. I saw it with my own eyes!"

"I hear you, I do. How many?"

"20 or so. I don't know. I didn't count."

"That's do-able."

I walked past the man as Luke and Zek followed. We wanted a look this place first. "Are you kidding me. There's just three of you! We couldn't do anything! What hope do you have?"

I turned around. "As we said. We're soldiers. This is what we trained for. Any before I forget to ask, which way is this river?"

Nigh agape, he pointed, and we left.

And sure enough, there it sat along the river, the prize any raider would sell his own mother for, and more-an abandoned Fire Nation outpost, in perfect condition.

"Well they sure left in a rush," Zek pointed out.

"That they did," I replied.

"Gonna be tough to run 'em down. They seem cozy in those walls."

"That they do." _So now, the real question: how to penetrate them._

"They're front gate's open," Luke pointed out.

"Not going to mean much if we rush right in though. If that fisher's even off by 10, we'd still get shot the second we step foot inside."

"Well, that's only if we go in by foot."

_Perfect. _I chuckled. Good idea, Luke. Zek, how much juice does Shanzi still have in her?"

He paused, then got it, and smiled. "Enough. You thinking-"

"Oh I'm thinking. Let's head on back to the village. Get Shanzi on the skiff and meet us at the town, and check up on Gordez, make sure he's not getting lonely."

"My pleasure." And with that, Zek ran ahead to reacquaint himself with Shanzi and be ready for our arrival. This was going to be tough, but these guys weren't the Earth Kingdom. After what we'd been through, this should be a breeze."

So Luke and I headed back together on what, just a few weeks back, would have been a dreadfully silent endeavor. Now though, I considered myself fortunate to even get a few words out of him, and he even started. "So," he asked. "How much do you think they have inside?"

"The raiders?"

He nodded.

"No idea. Fire Nation's just been gone for a little over a week. They must still have some gear."

"Unless the Fire Nation took it with them."

"I don't think so. Such a hasty retreat. No time."

"Humph. Why do you think they left in such a hurry, anyway?"

"Our guys?"

He nodded.

"I'm guessing Ozai wants his army back in town to ensure a, how should we put it, smooth transition in power?"

"But he should know the army's loyalty lies with Iroh first."

"And that's just what Ozai wants. This is Iroh's one chance to make a move. Iroh knows it, Ozai knows it. And if Iroh makes a move, the Fire Nation will turn against him. Any power he wins through combat will never be secure. He knows this. No. Iroh will come back, and he'll bow."

"Yeah. He'll bow. You saw him after it happened, right?"

"Yeah. When he told us to leave."

"He's not going to fight"

"No. He's done fighting. At least for now."

"Maybe some day he'll take back his throne," Luke suggested.

"Maybe someday, but no time soon, that's for sure."

"Yeah. So you got a good feeling about this?"

"For sure. Big fortress, only around 20 guys. Big area to cover. Guarantee you we take down half before the other half realizes," I said, trying to sound as confident as I could. It had been a while since we'd seen any actual combat. Over a month now that I thought about it. What was it now? November? I could hardly remember.

"Assuming that fisher knows how to count."

"I'm giving him at least a 10-person leeway. And odds are he did no actual counting. Probably just a number somebody claimed to have seen that caught wind."

"So expect anything?"

"No. I'm expecting around that many. A raider group like this, just a group of bandits who found an empty fort and decided to take it as a new home. They wouldn't have had time to grow. Not yet."

"Like us, then."

"Sure. That's one way of putting it."

"You know we'll have to keep some of what we find."

"It's not ours, but I know. We need to eat. We'll give back the villagers some of what we find, but we're taking everything we can get."

"Glad we're on the same page."

He didn't initiate any conversation after that point. There was no need, the way he saw it. And by the time we had gotten back to the village, a small crowd had already gathered around where Zek sat on top of Shanzi, like a costumed performer atop a float in a parade. It was truly a sight to behold.

Children were gathered around like an exotic animal at the zoo. Who could blame them? All the same, despite their fascination, they parted for Luke and me, allowing us to pass through and take our seats. I looked around for the old fisher before I closed the hatch over my head, finding him in the crowd, wide eyed. It was hard to determine what that look was of. Fear? Hope? I couldn't tell, because I was already picturing what his face would look like once we came back, by no means empty handed. I smiled at the thought and closed the hatch above me, and we set off.

It was near midday now, and we had the tank parked less than a quarter of a mile away as we scouted out the outpost one last time. This time, we saw guards. _Late risers, huh? Sloppy. Very sloppy. _No full-time patrols. Those fools.

_This is going to be too easy._

I signaled Zek to follow me back to the tank and we mounted up, Luke already in the gunner's seat, ready for combat.

And into combat we went. No hesitation. There were times to be slow and steady, but we determined here, that the most effective strategy would be a lightening strike. Leave no survivors.

We barreled down the mountain. The guards atop the walls noticed, but far too late. I saw one of the guards' body drop to the ground through the tiny sliver of a window in the tank, as I unsheathed my sword and readied to dismount.

Zek drove straight through the gate as Luke continued dropping targets. And we were inside the small outpost, and we dismounted.

The camp wasn't even awake. There was hardly anybody nearby.

Luke was out first, dropping a raider who had been reaching for a spear next to where it seemed he had been laughing. The fire consumed him, and he went to the ground writhing in pain as Zek and I emerged, a sword in my hands and a crossbow in Zek's. I motioned Zek to head Left to check the perimeter. I had faith in him.

I signaled to Luke to follow me inside. He nodded, and we set out. He sent a blast of fire unlike any I'd ever seen from him before that took the door down in an instant, blasting it inwards, tumbling against the far wall. _He's been practicing._

I went in first and realized the mistake shortly afterwards. It was no small wonder there had hardly been any outside. They were in here, eating lunch. _Oh boy._

I'm not sure if I heard him talk or it was just instinct telling me to, but I ducked, and the room emerged in hot yellow fire, as the raiders, mid-arming themselves with the weapons at the foot of their table, caught flame in a domino effect as Luke's flames spread through the room, consuming all in sight.

It was horrifying to watch, but relieving when I remembered who's side he was on. He kept the fire up for a solid 10 seconds as he paid extra attention to ensure everybody received their fair share. And within moments, nobody in the room save us two remained alive.

I rose, moving further into the building as Luke checked for survivors. I heard no commotion from outside, so assumed that Zek was meeting little to no resistance. I looked around the mess hall as I moved on. There must've been, what? 15 bodies here? All dead, now.

I moved to the back of the mess where a hallway stood out. I checked the rooms, one at a time. _Bathroom? Clear. Armory? Clear, dormitory-_

My thoughts were cut off by the ball of fire that nearly roasted my face had I turned to cover a half second later.

"What do you want!" He yelled.

I didn't bother replying. Luke had approached, but I shook my head to dissuade him. This one was mine. Besides, I wasn't letting Luke get all the credit for this.

I was in the hallway, door to my right, where inside, in a small room, was at least one opponent, a firebender too. Unskilled and untrained, but a threat all the same. Nothing I couldn't deal with. I'd dealt with benders before.

I switched cover to the other side of the doorframe. He fired, missed, recoiled. I bolted in, ducking, practically sliding to avoid his next blast trained on my head, and swung at his leg, slicing clean through, taking off his left foot as he tumbled to the ground and I rose in tandem. He didn't get the chance to scream before I swung again, slicing his neck in one clear motion, sending him down for the last time, dead.

Luke walked in now. "Nice kill," he said, as he looked around, seeing what I saw.

"You too," I said, but was too focused on the bounty ahead of us. We hadn't taken the time to notice when we first entered the base. It had been a bit too hectic for that, but we saw it now.

We were in the outpost barracks, rows upon rows of bunk beds, of the same design and style of our ship, lining the hall, and in the back, the stash of all stashes. Weeks' worth of raiding and pillaging, all for the taking.

I turned to Luke. He saw it too. He smiled. This was going to be a good day.

So we left the base, searching for Zek, only to be met by a raider attempting to climb into our tank and leave with it. Luke raised his arm to strike until a crossbow bolt found the raider clean through the throat.

The dead man went limp and tumbled over the side of the vehicle as we turned to see Zek standing on the other side of the outpost, loading his crossbow. "There he is. I was chasing that fucker around the camp this entire time"

And so like that, we spent the next hour grabbing what we could. The food and medicine and other supplies we deemed fair, taking it back to the village. And as Zek piloted the patrol skiff up the now uncontested river, the people of Shibi repossessed their confiscated goods, taking all they needed: food, medicine, the like.

And so before we left back towards the now empty raider outpost, that same fisher approached us just as we were setting off.

"You know," he said. "For a couple of kids." He swallowed. "You did good."

He smiled and turned around as I, and no doubt, Luke, attempted to suppress our grins. And so we returned to the ex-raider camp, where Zek had piloted the skiff, and had spent the last 30 minutes unbolted every bit of furniture from the ground.

And so, in a combined effort, by nightfall, every table, bed, counter, desk, everything had been moved to our ship. Every ounce of food we left behind had been moved into our freezers. Every bit of armor the raiders had worn, all clothing, all weapons, all possessions had been packed and moved into our ship. Luke burned the pile of naked bodies as we moved the last load of loot into the skiff for one final trip just as the moon came into view, and the outpost was now just an empty husk, a shell.

And so on the ride back, I smiled. Today was the first of many days. We fought and beat those who abused their power to prey on the weak. We made this area safer, we helped the people of Shibi reclaim what was theirs, and we came out better than ever before.

We spent that night bolting down the furniture we had possessed and moving the loot into appropriate places. The medicine in the infirmary, the armor and weapons in the armor, and sorting the miscellaneous accordingly.

And so, that night, in the captain's quarters, I fell asleep on a real bed for the first time in months, no, years.

I closed my eyes and smiled. _Yeah, _I thought. _This was going to work._


	6. Interlude 1: Dark Night

**Luke**

There was no way of telling what time it was when I awoke. It was late. I knew that much. Funny thing, I was finally comfortable, yet now was when I was having trouble catching sleep. The world was dark around me, I imagine somewhere in the early AMs. I was in an actual bed, in a slightly furnished room, lights out, the moon shining in. Yet I couldn't sleep.

I had grown accustomed to that of late. A lack of sleep, that is. It had been keeping up with me, for what? The last 2, 3 months now? How long since Ba Sing Se? I could hardly remember anymore. _Long ago. _That was the only answer that held any truth in it. _Long, long ago._

I had slept better back then. Be it on the hard earth ground, feeling vibrations of distant battles rock through the earth. Be it the cool hard steel of a tank, its vibrations knocking my head against a resting spot every 5 seconds. Or be it the soft, cold, wet mud of our trenches after we had passed the outer wall. The way it sought to soak into my uniform, giving it markings I knew I'd never lose. Those stains came out easily enough though. It was blood that came out less well.

I looked over to where my uniform was hanging in the closet. We had found some clothes hangers in the Raider Outpost. We divvied them up appropriately. Hell. I was just happy to have a room. I shared a floor with Danev, no, Boss and Zek. _Why Danev? He's dead, Luke._

I shook my head, pushing out the misinformation, rubbing the sweat from my brow. My hair was wet too, not aided by the fact it had been months since I cut it. _Short hair is dangerous. _I heard that in Citadel once. Maybe it was just as a joke, since right afterwards a few fellow street urchins had shaved me near bald, saying the look "suited me."

I wasn't sure whether to smile or cringe at the sudden memory. On one hand, all those I had known had been alive back then. I may not have known them, but all the same, they were alive. One the other hand though, I was trapped in there, destined to die there, the causes getting worse as I got older. The older you got, the more you got experienced to, the more there was to kill you. That's how life worked.

I looked at the ceiling now, noting the ways the iron plating screwed into each other. It was a sturdy ship. I knew that much. _Who would be awake right now? _Maybe Gordez. He didn't sleep up here with us anyway. He preferred to keep his quarters down in the engine bay. Boss offered otherwise, but he declined. Felt that he belonged there. Memories of his old experiences in the Navy, no doubt. He was an engineer. That's where he belonged. Or, that's how he saw it at least.

I turned back onto my side, facing to the right, the empty wall that I shared with Zek. He slept in the room to my right, Boss even further right, in the captain's quarters. _Well deserved. _I wasn't complaining. I had what I wanted. An actual double bed. I would have settled for a bed. Hell, a pile of straw. This, this was the best thing I've slept in for years. _How long since Citadel? Since the academy? _A year yet? I wasn't sure. I think I was around 12 when I left. _How old am I now? Still 12? I could've sworn I always told myself I got older around late winter or early spring. March? April?_

I shook my head. It was unimportant. I closed my eyes, but, obviously, no sleep came. The same results were faced with my left side. _Damnit._

I opened my eyes and spotted the dagger lying on my desk. Hadn't had the chance to really use the desk yet. Just got it in that raid, which, while a few weeks ago, was still rather recent. We were at sea now, drifting, letting the current take us. Where, we weren't sure, but we had Gordez and Boss doing course corrections, so I wasn't worried about it.

I leaned over, the blanket shifting over me, and reached for the dagger on the desk, grabbing it by its hilt, and sinking back into the bed, propping myself up slightly into a mid-sit, mid-lie position.

I held the knife in my right hand, producing a small light of a flame in my left. The room suddenly came alive as the spirals of the flame twisted and turned, letting its light glimmer off of the blade. It was one hell of a knife. Emphasis on was. It had gone through hell. I expected no less from a knife that had travelled with Danev for so long.

The leather that bound the hilt had been nigh completely singed off, revealing the woodwork underneath that would need replacing sooner or later. Not a simple task, but one I'd do in time. I thumbed the hilt, flipping the blade over, revealing where there had used to be an inscription. I had no way of knowing what it read. The wear and tear of its adventures had disguised that unique aspect of it. All you could tell from looking at it was that it had once said nothing. Now though, it was just a reminder of the past.

The blade itself was in good condition. I flipped it over, reviewing my handiwork. I sharpened it every day, and all the better for it. I thumbed the side, sliding it across ever so slightly, pulling back a finer newly bloodied. _Good. _The sting came a few seconds later, and I set the blade down back onto the desk before clenching my fists over the thumb, stopping the flow of blood.

It would stop in a minute or two.

I sighed out, the flame in my left hand slowly dying. I paid it small mind, letting it grow once more into a sizeable reading light. There was nothing to read, however, so I looked into the flames, watching as hands would reach out, grab the air, and pull it back inside, feeding its heart and soul. It was something to watch.

I remembered back to what Jeong Jeong had told me. He was right. Fire was unlike the other elements. Air travelled, water flowed, earth stood its ground, but fire. Fire was alive. Fire was born, fire died, fire inhaled, it exhaled. The Fire Nation sought to control fire, but that was there mistake. You could never control fire just as you could never control a wild beast. It had a mind of its own. You can only learn to not fear fire. And once you do, it's no longer the threat that it is. To you at least.

I've seen enough of what fire does to those who are its victims. Much of it by my hands. Did I envy them? No. Did I pity them? Yes. Did I regret what I'd done? No, save the one event. The rest, I'd done because I had to. It was a war. I was still in that war. I would continue to fight and use the resources at my disposal.

My train of thought was broken, and I let the fire dissipate as I felt the liquid beneath my head. Raising my hand up to my brow, I felt the sweat once more. Many people would call them dreams, nightmares, but they weren't. They were just memories. Maybe for some that would be a comfort. Dreams of a lost love, a happy moment, but I just saw those I'd kill. Faces I thought I'd forgotten. Insignificant soldiers I'd faced in the field. I saw their faces again now and remembered them. People I had even forgotten I'd killed.

I sighed. I wasn't sleeping tonight. I knew that much now.

I raised the blanket over me, moving into a sitting position, feet dangling off the bed. I shifted forward and winced as they touched the cold steel of the floor, the shock passing through my body to my shoulders which soon shuck in tandem.

It was fine though. I always had preferred the cold, for one reason or another.

I stood up, my nightclothes consisting of looted clothing from the raiders we had killed. We had washed them with whatever we could find, soaked them, dried them, but there was still that feeling there. I guess it was just the knowledge that these belonged to a dead man. A man I'd killed.

I shrugged it off, twisting the wheel to my room, unlocking it, dislodging it, and soon enough, opening it. It was 2-inch-thick steel. A strong door for a strong ship.

I'd expected worse when we set out to sea. Much worse. I'd never been at sea before, but for some reason, it felt familiar. Un-foreign. I had no sickness, no issues acclimatizing. I've already come to rely on the steady flow of the waves beneath me as I slept. It was my new life. And so far, I had no arguments.

I exited into the hallway, softly closing the door behind me, checking the hall to see the other doors were closed. I guess it was Gordez that would be awake at this time. Maybe I'd run into him.

I didn't it.

I climbed the ladder to the bridge, Gordez near the front, on the bridge platform, overlooking the sea. Couldn't blame him. I was up for a similar enough reason. I left the bridge through the back door, stepping onto the platform that encompassed the bridge. I came out immediately facing the forward smoke funnel. We were producing a reasonable amount at the moment. The older models were more energy efficient, the kind we were using now. The newer ships focused on sheer strength, but from what I've overheard, these were the real deal.

So I sat on the bridge deck, overlooking the sea as it escaped behind us, no land in sight, just the deep black sea as the cold wind passed overhead, and a slight snow fell around me. But finally, I managed to fall asleep.


	7. Chapter 6: The Raiders at Sea

**Zek**

"Gordez spotted a fishing boat due south southeast. I want you to take Luke and check it out, see if they know where the nearest town is. I don't want any delays. Check it out, ask what you need to, and come back here right away, got it?"

_Did I get it? _We've been at sea for almost 3 more weeks. We more tired, dirty, running low on water, fuel, and food. I was seasick again, Luke was quiet again, Boss was frustrated, Gordez was Gordez. I haven't seen land since we assaulted that raider base. If we stayed at sea any longer, we'd soon find ourselves dying of hunger, thirst, and exhaustion. _Did I get it?_

"Yes sir."

Did I also think this was yet another wild goose chase because Boss thought he saw something?

_Yes again._

And soon enough Luke was with me on the small patrol skiff, getting it ready to detach and as hooked the winch to lower it down smoothly into the water. The rear bay of the ship had already been opened, the boarding ramp lowered enabling a smooth slide into the sea. Gordez was down too, taking a break from his time in the engine bay, which, for the most part, was presently idling as we rode currents and searched for land. Though the currents we were supposed to be riding didn't seem particularly active. For all intents and purposes, we were motionless. I didn't want to say we were lost, but we were definitely not found at the moment.

I got into the skiff, making my way into the pilot's seat as Luke soon followed. Once I saw he was seated, I gave the thumbs up to Gordez, and he pulled the lever.

We were pushed back from the hydraulics, the selfsame ones that would soon raise us into the ship, hopefully in only a few minutes, less than an hour, and Raava pray with something to tell us where we were headed.

We splashed into the sea below, the foam of the ocean brushing our sides as our engines spurred to life, I turned us around, and we headed off towards where Boss had claimed the fishing boat was.

Luke soon shifted to another seat near the rear of the patrol skiff, positioning himself as I saw through a rear mirror, near the sides, bending over the side before we picked up too much speed, dousing his face in sea water. I didn't blame him. It had been weeks before we last cleansed ourselves. We couldn't afford to waste what little drinking water we had left on personal hygiene. So we were all rather filthy at that time.

Luke picked himself back over the side, pushing back his hair over his brow, desperately needing a haircut. I felt my own hair with my free hand, still steering due south southeast. _I could use one too. _I felt my chin, soon feeling up the side of my face. _A shave too would be in order. _I put my hand back on the wheel, raising it back up only moments later to wipe the sleep out of my eyes. _I could use a night back on dry land. Hell. I could just stand to be back on land as soon as possible. _The sea was getting to me. Again. I thought I would be done with the seasickness by now, but that was as far from the truth as it could be. It came back in waves. _Ha. Get it? Waves. _I chuckled at my own stupid joke, the laugh catching in my mouth from the aridity that prevailed within me. I need a drink. I need dry land. I need a lot of things. Right now, though. I needed to lie down.

"Hey Luke?" I asked, already feeling guilty.

He looked up out of curiosity from where he was sitting, wiping off his face with his civilian's clothing that Boss insisted we wear so as not to intimidate the locals.

"Mind taking the wheel for me? I gotta lie down."

Luke got up, as I was hoping he would, relieving me from my post, taking the wheel as I handed it off to him, maintaining the course. He'd had practice driving it by now. A number of not nearly successful fishing trips on this skiff had taught him that much.

"How much longer you want me to keep going this way?" he asked, surprising me once again as he always did whenever I heard his voice.

"Until we see the boat."

"Boss tell you how far it was?"

"No," I groaned, lying down on the floor of the skiff. The waves were coming at us head on at least rather than at the sides. Made for a less nauseating ride, but all the time, the sooner we could get to some dry land, the better.

"You don't think there is a boat, do you?"

I sighed. _Damnit, kid. _"No," I said yet again.

There was a pause. I wasn't sure what Luke was thinking about in the lapse of time. I was trying not to worry about it. I was busy huddling on the cold steel trying not to let the late November air get to me. It was by pure chance it wasn't snowing at this moment. That would have been the icing on the cake. Literally. The silence was soon quieted, however, when Luke asked, "Why?"

"Because there was no island last time, no oncoming Fire Nation vessel the time before that, no plume of smoke the time before. Boss sees what nobody else does and what nobody else ever will. That's his skill, I suppose."

Then an additional silence ensued. Luke continued driving for a minute, until asking, "What if there was a boat?"

"'Was'is the key word. If a small fishing boat spotted a Fire Nation cruiser, I guarantee you, it wouldn't be sticking around to greet us for a nice game of pai sho and some tea. So even if there **was **a boat, I hesitate to believe it's still there."

Yet for some reason, after 10 minutes, Luke saw it, and when he woke me to point it out, I did too. So maybe I wasn't always right.

"It's still there," spoke Luke matter of factly, spurring me to shift from where I was laying on the cold metal bed of the skiff, half asleep and half awake.

I stood up, or, more so, attempted to, nearly being knocked over by the wave as they racket the boat front to back, only enabling me to rise on my third attempt.

Luke was almost up on the fishing boat, and from this close, it wasn't hard to tell what had them dead in their tracks. Their sail was torn, hull beat down to near splinters.

Luke pulled up the mechanized shift to, what in comparison to our coal run vessel, was no more than a canoe, with not particularly friendly passengers at that.

We came to our stop, anchored with the small weight that should serve to hold us down for at least the moment.

The passengers of the fishing ship, two of them, one old one young, likely a father son duo, made no effort to assist us as we loaded the ramp, steadied our vessel, and walked aboard. In fact, they seemed particularly displeased by our presence, despite their not particularly suitable state of affairs.

"Great job," spoke the older man first, sporting a white fisher's beard, soaked in grease and sea water, wearing only some torn leggings and a vest that revealed his pot belly beneath. "You caught us. Go ahead and finish the job."

Luke had stepped aboard behind me, noticeably minding his step. _Keeping his distance from the water. _I turned my attention back to the bigger subject, the father-son duo which was no longer disputable as the son, a boy I'd place at around 16, sported the same weathered features as his father, especially noticeable in the eyes. _A sad look that. _

"Sorry?" I said.

"Your other buddies already came along this way. Go ahead and finish the job."

I looked behind towards Luke, who merely shrugged at the implication. I turned back to the man.

"I'm sorry," I said again. "Who do you think we are?

"You saying your not with the pirates that already rolled around here?"

"No?"

At that sound, the 5 tons on the man's shoulders were suddenly raised to the heavens as he breathed the largest sigh of relief I'd ever heard and sank back down to the deck of his pathetic cog as his son neared to help him back to his feet as he said, "Ho boy. Here I thought my boy and I were goners."

"What happened here?" I asked, lending a hand to the man as Luke paced the deck, possibly assessing the damage taken thus far, hell if I knew.

"We were with some other fishers from our town. Biggest expedition in years. Decided to take our chances what with the war cooling down and took our chances. Got a nice haul too. Enough to keep us fed for months. But then pirates in boats like yours found us. Ran us all in separate directions, picked the rest of one by one, I assume. I have no idea how many are left, but I wouldn't be surprised if we were one of the last alive."

"How optimistic," I heard Luke mumble from the side of the vessel.

"Anyway," the man continued, ignoring the comment. "We're still here, and thought you were one of them, here to finish the job. Glad that's not the case."

"No kidding. How far off's your town?" I asked, remembering why we'd come out here in the first place.

"No idea, kiddo. Didn't have time to get our bearings as we were run off by them pirates, but I'm guessing land is in that a ways," he said, pointing to the boat's rear.

We had a map aboard, but it wouldn't serve to do much here. There was no land in sight in any direction.

"Well you're dead if you stay on this boat," Luke said from the bow of the boat. "You're not going anywhere in this."

"Thanks, kid. We realized. Which is why we're glad you came along. It's not much, but my village has plenty in the ways of salvaged war goods when the Earth Kingdom was forced out and the Fire Nation left. If you're not pirates or Fire Nation judging by your lack of uniforms, I should take you as mercenaries?"

"Something like that."

"Then in that case, if you help us load our goods into your small boat, we can check for land in that direction. With this thing, we can be there and back in less than an hour if it's as close as I think, and this baby is as fast as the ones the pirates use. Get us to our village with the cargo, and we can reward you."

"We appreciate that," I said, but right now, we need food and water. Not weapons.

"Well we need all the food we can get, but we have a freshwater stream that goes through our town to the sea. We can give you fresh water. Lots of it too."

I turned to Luke, who once again, in his usual style, shrugged, leaving it to me to decide.

We needed water. Food would have helped too, but we'd take whatever we could get. "Alright," I said. You have a deal."

**Luke**

It took about 15 minutes to load enough into the Fire Nation patrol skiff to make the first journey with it. They had no idea if they would even find the coast, but it had to be worth it. We could have headed towards our own ship, supplied there, then headed to shore with a better understanding of where we were, but I could see it in Zek's eyes. He wanted to get to shore as quickly as possible.

And so, while he did that, alongside the old man's son to guide him, I'd be staying here, with said old man, ensuring what cargo was left would remain unmolested.

So Zek headed off, and I sat on the deck as the man kept the boat aligned to ensure we wouldn't face the waves to our side.

I didn't mind as much. The sea didn't bother me for some reason. At least not physically. In terms of mentality, I wasn't its biggest fan. Especially right here. Right now, with no land in sight. I'd sooner have opted to go to shore with Zek. But then that'd be 3 aboard the boat. Too much alongside the cargo.

Maybe I'd take over the next trip. Maybe.

"You don't talk much, do you?" the old man asked.

I considered taking the moody approach, not saying anything at all to keep up the act, but truth was, it'd been a while since I talked. Mostly because I had nothing to say, but right now, there were some things I wanted to know. Some things that were concerning me. So instead I said, "nope." And waited for him to continue the conversation as I knew he would.

And so, he did. "Yep. Figured as much. Not as talkative as your buddy."

He was an old man who seemingly only had his son for company the last few days. And from the looks of the kid, not great company it was. This man needed to talk, and more, he needed someone to reply. I'd indulge soon enough, once I got him in a position to spill more information.

"They should be getting back soon," he continued. "Yep. I know my stuff. Land's in that direction for sure. I can feel it in my bones."

"How big **is **your town?" I asked. Good time to start getting some actual information.

"Oh not too big. 33 people or possibly less given what just happened out here. Most of them my age or women. My son got lucky. Had to hide him away, yes. Make sure he didn't get drafted. He didn't like it, of course, the stubborn boy he is. Wanted to go off and fight the 'Fire Nation Invaders', but I would have none of it. Boy would be dead within weeks."

"War dissuade you too?"

"Oh yeah. I've seen it all. I mean look at me! Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom again, Fire Nation, even Water Tribe at one point. All the same stuff. Just people killing each other."

"So who are these pirates that were attacking you? Vets?"

"Maybe. Who knows?"

"They bend?"

"Not that I saw. We high tailed it out of there."

"And how'd you do that in a pile of tinder like this? Doesn't look like you sped your way out. Nor did you leave unscathed. So I'm assuming you bargained your way out, which wouldn't explain why you're worried about them returning, or you played dead, and drifted away while they killed the rest. And once they were away, chasing your buddies down, you made your retreat. And if that's the case, then it explains your anxiety and desire to high tail it out of here. So let me ask. How recently was this attack? Last night?"

The man smiled, then chuckled. "You're sharp, kid. Too sharp. And not last night. This morning. I sent my boy away for a reason."

"How many did you say there were?" I asked, now standing up, tensing. I had the feeling such was the case, but now I knew.

"There were 3 boats like the one you and your friend came in."

_And if they were benders, we were standing on a pile of tinder._

And then the hum came. The same hum I was used to hearing but from much closer, inside the source of the noise. Except it wasn't ours.

I flexed my right arm and produced the flame, readying it. I could hear the man audibly scuffle along the floor when he realized. "You're a-"

"Yep. Please make sure we don't catch on fire."

I heard the hum of a second boat, coming from the opposite direction, farther away. _So long as it's not at the same time, good. _I hid my flame. Better to have the element of surprise, should they try to do things the easy way.

And they did. The Fire Nation defectors turned pirates, still appareled in their ragged uniforms with some unorderly alteration as the first boat stopped parallel to our, lowered the ramp to board with all due haste, and I fired.

The first man went down off the ramp with nary a shout, hitting the water, chest burnt through from what I saw of the first blast. I was now wishing I had brought along my sword, but I'd manage.

The soldier behind the first had recovered from the shock but was fumbling in his attempt to unsheathe his weapon. His mistake. I stepped aboard the ramp, knocked him backwards. Standing on the edge of the ramp, he fell backwards into his own vessel as I followed.

It was at that moment that the driver began driving away in a haste to leave me behind, unaware that I was already aboard.

I kicked the deserter who fell first in the face, knocking him to the ground as he dropped his now unsheathed sword. I picked it up, turning to the driver, driving it into his chest as he attempted to turn, but not quickly enough. He slumped forward as I took the controls, turning the boat to face the second as I sent a stream of flame into the soldier on the ground, roasting him in place.

Maybe I did have some reservations about killing Fire Nation soldiers, but the way I saw this, they weren't soldiers anymore. They were worse. They were just killers without a cause save their own gain.

I turned the skiff around to meet the second which was now perpendicular to the old man's boat. 2 soldiers had already started jumped offboard into the boat, grabbing the man. I didn't have much time. I turned my skiff to ram into the other, sending it barreling backwards as one of the boarding troops fell off into the sea, sinking beneath the waves as his armor weighed him down to the murky depths.

The collision had sent me to the ground, but I was up now, and sent a bolt of fire at the other soldier aboard the remains of the old man's boat, taking him in the shoulder, sending him to the ground, attempting to rise until I sent another at him, striking his neck, sending him down for good. I stepped onto the bow of the metal skiff, ready to check up on the old man until I was made aware of the third soldier's presence, a fire bender, by the blast of fire that shot past my face from the deck of the other skiff I had just rammed into.

I ducked to the front of the bow, crouching low as a second blast shot overhead. Once it was past, I rose to my feet, jumping over the roof of the boat into the rear deck, taking cover in the cockpit area as the 3rd blast struck the side of the boat.

I left cover, firing a return blast as he sought similar cover in his own vessel. I took advantage of our proximity, and took his temporary retreat to close the gap, hopping back onto the bow of my boat and jumping into his.

He left cover, startled by our newfound proximity, but recovered quick, firing a blast. I raised my arms and focused on something I never had before.

I let time slow then, and felt as the temperature around me rose, as I could feel the individual fingers of his flame reach out to take their picks, but I didn't let them. I grabbed them, turned them to my will, and once they were in my possession, I broke them apart. And the flame he sent toward me dissipated into nothingness, vanishing into the thin air.

And from that, he didn't recover. With two hands, I recovered what little I could of his flame, added my own to the mix, and sent it into his stomach. It sheared through his armor, clothing, and skin alike. He fell to the ground, dead on impact, alive and well one second, dead the next.

And it was over. My vision cleared, and the exhaustion took over.

I nearly fell over, only managing to steady myself on the side of the boat, waiting a few moments as my vision went black, came back, went black, and came back one last time. I was still alive. I was still alive.

And I hopped back onto the old man's boat, small flames here and there that I quickly quenched with the motion of a hand, directing their flames elsewhere into the afternoon sky.

And when I found where the man was, lying on the ground, I noticed the blood that splattered the deck around him, the bloodied sword of the deserter I'd killed, and the hole in the man's stomach.

I was alive.

But he hadn't been so lucky.

Zek and the son returned an hour later. There were no tears to be shed. I wasn't surprised. We buried the old man at sea. No final words were said.

We loaded the rest of the food aboard our skiff, making one final trip to the town Zek now knew the guidance to. If the kids weren't silent before, he was now.

We got to the town, but it was a somber greeting, not comparable to last time. I didn't blame them. They'd gained nothing. They'd lost tens of their people and only received a portion of the bounty they'd hoped for, but they showed their thanks all the same.

But before we left, there was one final matter to attend to. So as we left, the boy who had had just lost his father sat on the edge of our skiff and spoke for the first time.

"I have nothing left now. Nowhere to go."

And there was only one answer we could give, and Zek gave it.

"You can come with us."

And so he did.

30 minutes later, we found our ship, right where it had been before, hardly having moved an inch.

We stepped aboard, offloaded the water first, dozens of gallons of it, then soon after, I proceeded to unload the food we had hidden from the villagers. They needed food, but so did we.

And the boy who's name we still didn't know gave us a look that I couldn't interpret as either suspicion or understanding, but there was only one thing to be said, which I did, "We gotta survive too."


	8. Interlude 2: Thoughts on the Future

**Boss**

I had told them what to do. It was simple. I told them to go out, find that fishing boat, and find out if there was any civilization nearby. It should have taken them 15, 30 minutes at most. Instead, they spent the entire day, going into the late evening, coming back just a few minutes ago, with food, water, and a random ass person I had never met before.

I had no idea what to think whatsoever. I didn't even know where to start my questions.

"I can explain," Zek said at that very moment as though he knew the fog of confusion that was my mind in that moment.

"I would really much appreciate that," I responded with.

"Well. Huh. Didn't think you'd keep me here long enough to explain. Well. First off. This is Jaduh."

"Jadoh," the boy corrected. He was young. Younger than me for sure, but that was a given. He was older than Luke for sure, but I didn't know where to place him in relation to Zek. Something about the look in his eyes said he was older, but his stature said younger.

"Jadoh," Zek acknowledged. "Right. Sorry. Anyway, we went to that boat. It was a fishing one. They had been part of a larger fishing group from a nearby town but were attacked. Jadoh and his dad were the only survivors."

"Where's the dad now?" I looked over to Jadoh, and his lack of reaction made me believe this alleged father was still alive, but Zek's answer said otherwise.

"He didn't make it," Zek answered.

I looked back over to Jadoh, surprised, wondering if even he knew, but no reaction again. He knew, but he was unaffected. I looked back to Zek, clearly waiting for clarification which he promptly gave.

"He was killed by pirates."

"They came back to finish them off, then?"

"Yeah."

"So you held them off."

"Yes, well," he paused. "Luke did."

"Luke? Where were you?"

"I was going to the town with Jadoh. We didn't know the pirates would come back soon. We were going to offload cargo from the boat since it couldn't move and see if we could get some help, but, when we came back, the dad was dead."

"Why didn't you just tow their boat. Couldn't have been larger than a small fishing boat, right?"

"Yeah, but it was loaded to the brim. Too heavy and too much to tow."

I sighed. It was one thing that somebody had died. I didn't know the man. I would have offered condolences to the boy, but he didn't appear to be needing them. What worried me more than anything else was that Zek and Luke had apparently gone off on their own on a whole grand adventure without even letting me know what the hell was going on. For nearly the entire day, I thought they were dead, but we stayed put for fear of leaving them behind. An entire load of coal had been wasted as we idled, waiting for them to return, which they had, eventually, but there had been no warning, no alert that they'd take a while. They had just left. And that's something I wasn't comfortable with.

"Jadoh," I said, turning my attention to the boy without tears. "Few stories down, there's a barracks. Chose a bunk and offload your stuff if you really want to stay. If you don't, we'll take you back to your town."

"Thank you," he said "But it's not my town anymore.

He left, presumably to his bunk, but Zek remained as I had hoped he would, as he knew he would have to. He also knew he couldn't get away with this scot free.

¨Look,¨ he started. "I know I-"

"You left for something that was meant to take you 30 minutes so we could get food, water, and fuel, but instead took the entire day doing what? Helping fishermen and fighting pirates?"

"Okay. Well. When you put it like that, it sounds dumb, but you told us that we're here to help people. That's what we did. Helped people."

"Come on, Zek. We both know this wasn't just about that. You wanted out. You saw this as a chance to get away from this ship and I don't blame you, but what you did, not telling us, going off on your own, leaving Luke to fight against, how many raiders alone?"

"We didn't know they were coming."

"That doesn't matter. You run things by me. Like it or not, I'm in charge here and there's a system to the way we do things. You run it by me, or people get hurt. You should have come here first, warned us, we could've come 'round to help out, but instead, you acted out of mere excitement, and people died."

Zek didn't seek to make and counterclaims to that. The mane as dead. That much was apparent. I had expected him to defend his complicity in the death, or rather, lack thereof, but there was no argument to be made from him. Rather, his head sank, and he made no effort to deny what I had said. I wondered what to do with him for a while. I knew he was loyal. I knew he'd never betray us and I didn't want to bring him to the point where he may consider such a betrayal, but sadly, things were turning out more like the military than I would have hoped for. Before, I had informally been put in charge, but now it was in an official capacity. It was in the name they had given me—"Boss." There was no avoiding the label I had been given anymore. What I was was apparent, and whether I liked it or not, I'd have to go along with it.

So now as part of that responsibility came determining what to do with Zek. I knew he had been actin gin our best interests. And what he had done had likely yielded more positive results had he not done what he did. I would tell him that, soon enough. I didn't want to make him too a ware of his successes just yet, however, lest he forget the consequences of what he'd done, but I didn't want him to find out on his own and believe that there was praise to be found that I hadn't acknowledged. I would tell him how I felt soon enough, but not yet.

I decided soon enough that he had enough of a punishment as he needed. He had a man's death on his conscience. I didn't need to hammer the point home any further than had already been done. "You can go."

He surprise didn't show in any obvious matter, but it could be read in his eyes for the split second that they widened, blinked, and returned to their standard state.

He left shortly after, nodding at me and retreating down the ladder that led to the command bridge where the debriefing had occurred. _Damn, I was even using military terminology now. _It was like nothing was changing. I mean, I wasn't going to deny it. I **was **trying to start an army of sorts. I had no intention of fighting this war, no, but there was a reason that professional armies succeeded where local militias failed. As much as the plays and books sought to glorify the strife of the armed farmer, the abused factory workers, and their capabilities of organizing and fighting against the system, this just wasn't how reality worked. They got discovered, they got disorganized, and they got crushed, or they turned on each other.

At Ba Sing Se, Iroh had spent months trying to ready the rioters in the city. He attempted to send arms, supplies, other necessities, but the rioters had failed at one key thing. Organization. And so, the Dai Li crushed them, leaving behind nothing but the bodies of starving men, women, and children littering their streets.

Ba Sing Se would likely be depopulated for months if not years to come. The only hope the urban center would have of recovering its populace would be large scale migration, likely from the renewed front of the war. For the last 2 years, Ba Sing Se had been the target, the source of the war's biggest struggles. To be safe was to be as far away from Ba Sing Se as physically possible, but now the war was no longer on the Earth Kingdom's doorstep. Kuei and his forces were advancing once more. The front was moving, and as time passed, more and more would be caught in its hellfire.

_That's how we'll survive._

There's two struggles worth fighting in this war. The struggle in the field and the struggle at home. These past few weeks, our efforts had bee focused on those at home, those abandoned by local security, abused by their garrisons, you name it. But while there had been some luck in the past, it wouldn't sustain us. Not for long at least. We had to get involved in this war whether we liked it or not.

_But on who's side?_

That, again, was the question. Both had their upsides and downsides. We'd deserted from the Fire Nation for all intents and purposes even if the paperwork said otherwise. We were traitors though we all still loved our countries. And what of the Earth Kingdom. There were rumors of what happened to Fire Nation POWs. Rumors of all manner of things from having limbs crushed to being brainwashed by the Dai Li and sent against your own comrades. And rumors didn't spontaneously appear out of thin air. They had their foundations. I only prayed that, should we get caught, the truth was only **as **bad as the rumors, as opposed to the more likely possibility of worse.

And then there was the third option. Taking no side. Right now, the Fire Nation army was retreating, consolidating hard points and regrouping in the homeland. Soon enough though, they'd advance once more, contest the front, and make their advance. Then the real fighting would begin, but until then, we had other threats to consider. Threats that the Earth Kingdom posed. Where our own country lacked the "kinder" disposition of say, the Air Nomads, the Earth Kingdom lacked discipline. They targeted who they could when they could. Their soldiers were no better than disorganized militias in most cases. Local garrisons were corrupt to the bone, only after their own wealth, and the army that fielded them had no safe measures to prevent this degree of insanity.

But that's what all of this was about, was it not? Stopping these kind of people from getting their way, going from town to town, extorting, raping, killing.

So sides did have to be taken, but it wasn't a matter of Fire or Earth, but of bully or bullied. And we had made that choice a long time ago.

I stood up from where I was sitting on the bridge with a renewed sense of purpose. We had put off the fighting for long enough, and we needed supplies, and I think I had a good notion as to where to get some.

What Luke and Zek managed to bring back would keep us afloat for now, but little more. We had enough fuel to last us a few more runs on the skiff. Until then, we needed to find a port, but more importantly, we needed to find a target. And I think I had finally found one nearby. I turned to the map in the center of the room and searched for the where the city would be on this unlabeled sea chart, scouting for its characteristic geographic traits. I still had my memories here from my time with the Southern Raiders. There was always a specific part of the region we had been ordered to avoid. That was Kyushu Island, and a larger city that lied near to it by the coast, a city known as Chin.

_Perfect._


	9. Chapter 7: The Burning Sea Skirmish

**Boss**

3 weeks dormant, somewhere in the burning sea, an unknown number of miles from the shore. The tide's been pushing us further and further from the coast. We know the direction it's in, but we don't know how far. We can no longer sea the rock formations that lined the coast. We're completely out of fuel save enough to set us in a certain direction. All besides that to our name, all we have remaining is a half trip's worth of gasoline in the patrol skiff. We've been rationing food and water for the last near month, but it's worse now.

Zek nearly killed Jadoh the other day for stepping on a cracker. We're all on edge, hungry, thirsty. We've tried fishing with little to no success. There's no life as far as this region of the sea goes. Something made me think the last life to ever remain out here was the monks as their ashes littered the ocean floor.

_Would that be us soon? Ashes? Corpses lost at sea? And would it be all my fault? Yes. Of course it would. I brought them out here. They're here because I am. Why did I leave the Fire Nation? Why did any of us? We had food, water, shelter, but at what cost? What did we gain by leaving? A feeling of doing the "right thing?" What the hell even __**was **__the right thing anymore? What was right about dragging 4 young men, hell, __**kids, **__to the middle of the sea to die of exposure? So what? So they wouldn't partake in an unjust war? Damnit! What was I thinking?_

I heard a small rasp at the door to the bridge. I had no choice but to compose myself. The last thing they needed was to see me this way. _Why should I? Nobody else is making an effort to hide their hate and suffering. Why should I?_

"Boss?" Asked Zek from outside. "You in there?"

_Because I'm their leader. Or the closest thing they have to one. _I raised myself from where I was sulking over the map of the Earth Kingdom we had on display, marking what we thought to be our current position, a small pathetic red blip due north of the Southern Air Temple's ashes. "I'm here," I responded. "Come in."

The wheel of the door turned, releasing the lock and loosening the hinges of the pressurized door, allowing it to swing open with relative ease, Zek soon following suit. "Sir?"

"Come in. I'm glad you're here. I was just going over our next move." _That was a bold-faced lie. One I hoped Zek didn't question. I was trying to think of one. A plan, that is. I was, but more and more they just starting seeming more hopeless. Still, hopefully talking with Zek would yield some results. Something was better than nothing._

"You were? Well. That's a relief, because we're pretty damn out of ideas."

_Damn. _"Well tell me, then. What were you and the others thinking of?" _Please. I just needed ideas._

"Well. Gordez says current's taking us south, by the time of the year it is. So that's taking us closer to Whale Tail island and further away for Jadoh's village, so there's no hope going back there with our current fuel. If anything, it seems we're closer to Whale Tail than the Earth Kingdom. We were thinking, or wondering more like, should we take the skiff out there? I mean. It's land. And there's water coming from the mountains. We could stay there for a bit. Do some hunting. Get some rest."

_Food, water, rest. The words were almost enough to sell me. Almost. If only if it wasn't for that one memory._

"No. Not whale tail. Fire Nation has an outpost. Communications depot. Southern raiders use it to coordinate with the Fire Nation. Even with the regrouping, I wouldn't doubt it still has a sizable guard."

"But we're in a Fire Nation ship."

"A derelict and outdated Fire Nation ship. If anybody knew just how out of place we were, it would be them. And odds are, the scrapping center we stole this hunk of junk from already reported the theft months ago. If anybody knows, it's that outpost."

"You were a raider though. Raiders still use those outdated models. We can make the flag out of spare material we have lying around. It's a Fire Nation ship. No shortage of red. We can sell it."

"It's a different kind of ship too. Not a destroyer, but, no. It's risky."

"Come on. How many people do you even think they'll have over there? Entire army's regrouping for a new campaign. It'll be a skeleton crew at worse."

I didn't answer right away. I breathed out, turning to face the map, then the blue sky outside. Why did it have to be such a beautiful day? Why did I have to make a decision this horrible on a day as nice as this? _But what other choice do I have? Kyoshi Island? They'd kill us on sight. Chin? They'd kill us too, but likely make a show of it. _I was a Southern Raider. I was taught about every piece of civilized land on the Earth Kingdom west coast, from the smallest hobble to the largest city. Any options we had were either too far away, even more destitute than we were, or more than prepared to kill anybody bearing Fire nation colors, not to mention in a Fire Nation ship.

"What other choice do we have?" Asked Zek, voicing my own questions I had been asking myself.

_What other choice __**did **__we have? _Sadly, I knew the answer. I took a deep breath, knowing it was the last full breath I'd take for the next few hours. "Get the engines on. Turn us due South, headed towards Whale Tail Island."

"They're your orders, sir. Tell the ship."

I nodded, reaching for the microphone connected to the tube-operated PA system that ran through the ship, and repeated those same orders to all living beings on board from the crew to the roaches in our halls. Soon enough, the ship came to life. And we set on our way. As I anticipated, I had already taken my last full breath for the rest of the day to come.

Zek turned to leave, making his exit from the bridge as he set out to his station. "And sir, should I get to work on that banner?"

I thought on it, remembering something that would work in its stead. "Actually. I think I have something better. Follow me."

**Zek**

"Take this," boss said, handing me the perfectly folded banner of the Southern Raiders, nigh spotless, doubtlessly cleaned by day as well as by night. It was located in his possessions just below his banner from his time as sergeant of Iron Fire. It felt like centuries ago now as I fastened the banner to our mast, the first to take its spot on this vessel.

Sad thing too it had to be of the Southern Raiders. They're reputation was one of infamy in the Fire Nation just as it was in the Earth Kingdom. They were known for their insubordination, never complying with military codes, going off on their own, taking from who they pleased. Hell, it wasn't enough to say that. The Rough Rhinos were just the same if not worse, but the Southern Raiders, they were cruel, their loyalty more in question even that that of the mercenaries who had become topics of plays and children's playthings across Fire Nation contested lands.

Once the banner was up, it was sad to note just how in place it was: The Black Sea ravens against a triangular field of blood red, bent in the shape of a crescent, a skull over the raven's head, its tail split in two. I could picture how the banner would appear now out of a morning southern mist, accompanied by black soot falling from the sky as these sleek gray machines of war came over the horizon, killing any and all in sight. _It's no wonder we have so many enemies. These are the kinds of stories that speak loudest. Of our crimes, our cruelty. The stories say nothing of the good we've done. Of the people we've saved from serfdom, giving them food, shelter, water, paying jobs, but then assholes like the Southern Raiders come along, and give the rest of the world a reason to rally against us._

I shook my head, casting the thought aside as I climbed down the ladder back down to the main deck. Jadoh and Luke already had the engine rumbling, having shoveled the last of our coal into the boilers. Gordez was out of commission having been incapacitated by a rather unwelcoming case of seasickness. Hopefully the outpost would have some medicine for us. Assuming they didn't fire at us on sight. We were on our way, having already turned around. We'd get there. It was only a matter of how long it would take now. Of course, it was also a matter of making sure they didn't blow us into a million pieces the second they saw us. There was a particular pressure on me. This was my plan. The crew may not have known, but I did. If this went south, it'd be on me. _So this is what it's like for Boss._

I got back to the main deck. Luke and Jadoh were walking out of the main command superstructure by the time I was down, decked out in ill-fitting Fire Nation armor, but it was better than nothing. _It's not Southern Raider armor. _I assumed Boss already told them the plan while I was busy fastening our standard judging by the fact they had weapons at their side and were making their best effort to appear as professional soldiers.

It was almost humorous how loose-fitting Jadoh's armor was. He was wearing Gordez's set, Gordez himself out of commission. It was clear just how out of place he was. I smiled. _We'll have to keep him out of sight, though. Better safe than sorry._

"You two look read to go," I said as I dismounted the ladder, clanging softly to the steel ground as the two adjusted their last bits of clothing, Luke tightening his gloves and Jadoh desperately stuffing his undershirt into his leggings. "As ready as we can be, I guess," said Jadoh. "We going to see if they have any spare uniforms they can lend us?"

"Oh sure. After we take their food, water, and fuel, we'll ask them nicely for some fresh clothes."

"Can't tell if you're being real with me or just being an asshole right now."

"Then I'll keep you guessing," I ended with as I set off into the superstructure to get my own uniform on. I moved up to my own room, on the same floor as Boss's, the room I supposed would be reserved for the First mate. Luke was in the room next to mine. _Second mate? _Didn't matter.

Jadoh was below us. Smaller room, still private though. Before that floor was the main barracks. It was a bit much to act as though we lived in the lap of luxury. We'd been sleeping on the metal floor until we stole those beds from the abandoned Fire Nation outpost nearly, what? A month back? _A month already? How long have we been out here? No matter. The less time the better. We're turning our luck around today. _I climbed up the ladder of the superstructure, too cramped to house an actual stairway. Food and other supplies were taken up and down by means of pulley. It was rustic, but it worked.

I got to my room, disrobing my civilian attire, trading it out for the light grays of the military underclothes, clamping on the black and metal armor over it, securing the leg plating, arm plating, boots, gloves, and lastly, the final touch, the open helmet. Part ways, I envied Luke. Being a firebender, his uniformed helmet bore with it the face mask to protect against the flames. I had no doubt it limited visibility but offered greater protection. It was a tradeoff; one I'd sometimes be willing to make. Today, however, was not a day for that. I needed to keep my eyes open. We'd be in the center of a hostile Fire Nation outpost. _"Hostile Fire Nation Outpost". _It still felt wrong saying that. That was my country I was referring to as an enemy belligerent. No matter how many times I told myself this was the way things were, it would never feel quite right.

I fastened a short sword to my belt, closing the door to my room behind me, sealing it out of paranoia, and ascending up to the bridge where I once again was faced with Boss as he awaited my status report, which I promptly gave, saying, "We're in motion. Due south. Crew is combat ready, and the flag is secured. Orders?"

"I'd put us about another hour away from the outpost. We're making surprisingly good speed."

"Makes sense, I guess. It's a small ship, we have efficient energy use, we're underweight, and we have the current on our side."

"That's true. Go ahead. Get some rest. In 30 minutes, get the ship battle-ready, worse comes to worst. And look professional. We may be in the wrong ship, wearing the wrong armor, but the least we can do is sell that we're on the same side."

"If we want to look like the Southern Raiders, isn't the last thing we should be doing, **looking **professional?"

Boss chuckled at that, shaking his head, saying, "Get some rest. Report back here in 30."

I smiled, nodding. "Yes sir."

I turned to leave, readying to head down the ladder once more when something caught my eye through the window of the door leading to the rear balcony. A small blot in the distance, behind us. Was it, a ship?

I backed away from the window, immediately bolting for where the telescope was lying atop the map table, ignoring Boss's protests as I ran back, tackling open the door, stopping myself before I went over the railing, and extended the scope to get a view.

I closed my left eye as I peered through the magnified one, scanning the horizon, left and right, almost believing I was imagining things until I saw it, gliding vehemently across the surface of the burning sea, a beast of wood and metal—an ironclad Earth Kingdom destroyer. On our tail, approaching quickly.

I couldn't hear Boss yelling at me over the rate of my own heart until he grabbed the scope out of my hand, placing it to his eye, verifying the circumstances himself as I stood agape, helpless, motionless, my heart in my mouth.

His shoulders sunk, and he closed the scope. I don't know if I was expecting a reaction similar to mine own, but when he looked at me, his expression changed. It wasn't one of the blatant fear and terror I was experiencing, but one of flaming resolve. "3 miles out," he said. "Gaining speed quickly"

"Can we make it the-the outpost before they catch up to us?" I was begging for the affirmative. There was no hope of us dealing with this ourselves. We were unarmed, under equipped, easy takings. I received the opposite of what I was begging for, however.

"Not likely. Not at their speed. We're in for a fight."

"We can't beat them, though. We have nothing to fight back with. They'll blow us out of the water."

"No," he said, sliding the coiled scope into his belt loop, moving over to the PA system, doubtlessly preparing to update his crew as to the situation. "They'll want to board us. They see we're lagging behind. Easy pickings. They'll want to take our ship for themselves and anything we have onboard." He now spoke into the PA, the echo of his voice bouncing across the walls as every opening voiced Boss's mechanical words as he spoke without fear, without emotion, but as a leader. "Attention crew. We have an Earth Kingdom vessel on our tail. Report to the bridge for orders."

I could still feel my heart beating, almost begging to break out of my chest with every pump, the blood coursing through my veins at speeds I couldn't begin to measure. "What are you thinking, Boss?" I asked, paying no mind to the break in my voice that made itself known midway through my question.

"I'm thinking we fight."

"How?"

"Be patient. I'll tell you the plan once Luke and Jadoh are up here."

Soon enough, they were, clearly in the same state of confusion and fear as I was. At least, Jadoh was. Luke was expressionless. In fact, something about him made him look as though he was begging for a good fight. "You said there's an Earth Kingdom ship?" Jadoh asked.

"Yes. Ironclad. Destroyer-class. Gaining quickly."

"Fuck," Jadoh commented. "Do we surrender. I mean. We're mercenaries. We can just work for them."

I shook my head, immediately discounting that option. "No point," I said. "We're not mercenaries. We're southern raiders. Or at least they think we are. "They'd kill the lot of us even if we gave them the key to the backdoor to Ozai's bedchamber."

"Then just take the flag down. Tell them we're not the raiders."

"They already saw our banner," commented Boss.

"Besides," I said. "You think they'd really believe us?"

Jadoh shook his head, looking up to the ceiling, yelling, "Damnit!"

"Calm down," was Luke's input in the conversation.

"Calm down?! We have no weapons. We're dead in the water. They'll blast us into the sea."

"No they won't," corrected Boss. "I was telling Zek. We're more worth intact. They know we're lagging behind. Easy pickings. They're approaching at ramming speed. They'll try to board us, kill us, and take our ship."

"Well that doesn't really help us," said Jadoh, and for once, I agreed. We were just as poorly under armed in terms of conventional weaponry as naval equipment. How were we expecting to repel a full boarding team, especially when they knew we were here? Unless we-

"We still have fuel in the skiff," I blurted out. I looked to Boss and saw the smile on his face. Was this his plan the whole time or did I-did I just give him the plan. No. Didn't matter. I continued. "We can use the skiff, board them, fight on their ship. Distract them long enough for us to get to the outpost."

"No," said Boss. "We can do better than that. This isn't a distraction, or whoever were to go onboard would be killed in a manner of seconds, or, at best, minutes."

"But the ship would get away."

"Not the point. Luke, you're a firebender. You're going with Zek aboard the enemy ship. Jadoh, can you fight?"

"I-uh-no."

"Then you're staying here. You'll guard the bridge."

"Boss. Don't let Luke tag along. It's like you said. Anyone you send along will die for the distraction."

"This won't **be **a distraction. You'll sabotage their ship. Take them out from within. Destroy their engines, leave them dead in the water, then return to your skiff and get back here."

"But Boss-"

"Understood?"

"Sir. They'll know we're aboard. They'll kill us before they kill you. The most we can get out of this **is **a distraction."

"If you leave now, yes, they'll see you miles ahead. They're coming in to ram us. You'll eject on the skiff once they do. We can't stop them from colliding with our rear. Once they do, you'll leave on the skiff, move underneath the shadow of their hull, get to their rear, and board without their knowing. Am I understood?"

I saw Luke nod and leave from behind me, already heading down the ladder en route to the patrol skiff bay. "Boss," I objected. "I'm not sure about this."

"About what? Your suicide mission that I'm trying to make less suicidal?"

"Minimal casualties, sir."

"Are you so eager to die?"

"No, but I-"

"Then follow your orders and get to the skiff bay. Open the bay doors when I give the word over the PA. until then, ready the skiff for departure, and only open the door when I give the word."

"Boss," I pleaded one last time.

"They're one mile away. You don't have a lot of time. Go!"

I wasn't eager to die, but when I saw that ship, I knew our luck had run out. I knew that if somebody didn't do something, we'd be floating corpses in a matter of minutes. I was willing to fight so at least some of us would live. _Was it to fight so we would live, or was it to die? Am I trying to die? Die fighting my enemies before I die fighting my own countrymen. _I didn't know the answer to that.

I shook my head, following Luke down the ladder, running through the halls as I tightened my gloves, secured my sword in its sheathe, clasping my helmet at the neck as I made my way to the skiff bay as quick as my legs and my heart, still not slowing down, would allow me. _How does Luke do it? What did he see at Ba Sing Se? What did he do to those people that made him this way?_

At the skiff bay, Luke was already checking the skiff's fuel, checking readings, nearly ready to turn it on, waiting merely for me, and the order to come through. He hadn't even heard Boss's orders, but he was waiting for the go-ahead. _Was it blind loyalty, did he really trust Boss with his life, or did he simply not care what happened to him? _

Luke was 3 years my youth, but the sword fit around high waste far better than it did mine own. I had a habit of asking myself what the difference between a soldier and a killer was. I used to think Luke was the former, but I didn't know anymore. He had his loyalties, hell if I knew what they were, but he didn't kill indiscriminately, but he enjoyed it all the same. He gained pleasure from killing his foe. What did that make him? A soldier or a killer, or somewhere in between the two sitting on a paper-thin line, simply going whichever way the wind blew?

But the look he gave me when I entered the room, grim determination mixed with an underlying thrill to fight, expressionless eyes that were soon concealed by shadow when he slipped his helmet over his face, they all told me one thing. He was better suit for this than I was.

I waited by the intercom output, waiting for Boss's voice to ring through. Luke was simply standing in the back of the skiff, flexing the muscles in his hands, small flames protruding out every now and then. Some nights, I'd catch him as practiced his daily forms, changing them each and every time, not following any master or any pre-written scroll, but following his own motions. He was getting stronger and stronger as the days went by. Anytime he entered a room, I could feel it both grow hotter and colder. I had no idea what he was. I was thankful for one thing, though. He was on my side.

"Open the doors," came the voice of my leader, my closest friend left living, made mechanical as it passed from tube to tube to where I stood. I did as he ordered, and the doors screeched open. And not 50 yards away was the hull of the Earth Kingdom vessel, oak held together by iron supports, lined in less-flammable green-wood coating, replaced every few months to keep the material still wet from its sap, less flammable than the vessel's primary material. _At least from the outside. The inside will be a different story. _I saw the vessel come nearer, growing a thousand times its size as when I'd first seen it on the horizon. _I hope._

I remembered my orders. Eject the moment we collide. I stepped into the skiff, hands on the engine's ignition as Luke readied the mechanism that would lower us by way of iron chains into the soon to be Red Sea below.

The vessel's ram approached, the individual nails becoming visible as it came so close you could kiss the hull, until, finally, it hit. Metal against metal, iron against steel, the Earth Kingdom ship's speed proved its greatest ally as it propelled itself directly into our ship's rear, warping the steel of our stern as it bounced off, coming in again to hit us a second time. But now, as it bounced back, was our chance. "Now!"

Luke released the chains, we dropped, into the water we went, winter-cold water splashing our backs as I started the engine, and we came to life. I turned us around, our front now facing the quickly approaching Earth Kingdom ironclad once more for another strike, heading left, to the monstrosity's starboard side, our steel hull scratching against that of the earthen vessel, tearing along its wooden hull as the two great vessels collided once more. I turned back and could observe the second collision, our stern boarding ramp being reduced to slag as it was slammed into, a pathetic barrier blocking the enemy's approach as it was just as pathetically cast aside, giving way for the second strike, warping the stern of our ship once more. It wouldn't be able to take too much more. We had to make this quick, and we had to do this right.

We reached the stern of the Earth Kingdom vessel where Luke fired a grabbing hook into the ship's hull. It lacked the force of modern cruiser-fitted anti-armor grappling hooks capable of penetrating a steel ship through both hulls, ignoring all in its path. However, it did the job. It passed through the outer layering of green-wood, and quickly simply through the oak, securing us tightly to the enemy vessel as it dragged us along with it. I cut the engines, and waited, for just a minute, enough to gauge our welcoming party.

There was none.

They had no idea we were here.

I smiled and turned to Luke. It was time. We sheathed any weapons still unsheathed and turned towards the Earth Kingdom vessel, closing the minimal distance as we used the iron supports as easy handholds, suing them to make our way up to the nearest opening: a small window in the stern captain's deck. I unsheathed my sword, using the hilt to smash through the window, crawling in with ease, both of us ignoring the shards of broken glass as our armor protected us against the minimal obstacle.

We were in the ship, and just as easily as we had boarded, met our first obstacle—a woman, an age I'd place around her late teens or early 20s, half-dressed or half-undressed depending on how you chose to approach it, she was, was it cute, was it beautiful? I think it was mostly her eyes, half-terrified, half-startled as she jumped from under the sheets of the bed. I think she had been expecting someone else. I raised an arm, as though to tell her she wasn't in danger. Sadly, perhaps raising my unsheathed sword wasn't the best show of good faith. She opened her mouth to scream, and the hilt of Luke's blade was driven into her face before her simply croak could come a yell.

She fell to the ground, out for the count, as a short-lived mist of blood followed her. She would live, but, no, it didn't feel right. She was a woman. No, fuck, she was a girl. And Luke just knocked her out! "Luke!" I wanted to yell but forced into a whisper. "What the hell?!"

"She was going to scream." He wasn't trying to defend himself. He didn't say it as though I was accusing him of some grievous misdeed, nor did he approach it nonchalantly. As he had apparently prided himself on doing these last few months, he stood somewhere in the middle. He looked at me, and simply said it as though it were the answer to some test question back in whatever academy spit him out.

Luke didn't reside to hear any more of my accusations. He carried along, moving towards the door, standing on the tips of his toes to peer through the hole in the door aimed outside. _On the tips of his toes. He's a kid and he's better suited for this than I'll ever be. _I looked back to the woman, where she lay on the ground, bloodied nose and all, likely broken. _Who was she expecting? Who had her so scared? What am I talking about? It's us. The ones who broke through her window, swords in hand, one of them wearing a skull mask. What the hell did I mean, 'who was she scared of?' It's us. _Something about it, though. Something didn't sit right.

"There moving to the bow," said Luke, still peering through the peephole. "15 on deck. 4 on artillery."

"What-" I coughed, trying to stop paying mind to the unimportant. "What kind of artillery?"

"Doesn't matter. It's only for if the boarding party has a hard time taking the ship. I don't think it'll be an issue. We'll have this shit underwater before they get the chance. They're trying to force our ship to stop. We'll be done before then."

"See any way to get below deck?" I asked, moving closer to the door, trying to see through the peep hole that was engulfed by Luke's helmet. "Yes. Directly ahead. Nobody's facing our direction. Let's run for it."

"Alright. I-I'm behind you."

Luke caught me looking back at the incapacitated girl. "Don't worry about her."

"She'll go down with the ship."

"Or all of **us **will. Make your choice."

_I'll come back for you. _"Okay. Let's go."

Luke opened the door, the sounds of the sea and the third collision coming to life all at once, the waves beating against our hull, the scrape of metal-on metal, a wrenching shrill like sirens in the seas, the perfect noise under which to run across nearly a third of the deck, running below it into the dark bowels of the vessel.

When it came to the Fire Nation, vessels were mass-produced, non-varying schematics from ship to ship, designs shared from factory to factory, worker to worker. You could've been on a destroyer managed by some captain in the middle of the Southern Arctic or on a cruiser patrolling the Serpent's Lake. Here though, we had no way of knowing which direction was which. For starters, I'd never been on an Earth Kingdom vessel before, and I highly doubted Luke had at some point in his frighteningly short career. In addition to that, even if we had, as opposed to the Fire Nation, there was no such a thing as unified designs. Every ship varied from one another. What was the boiler room here could have been a cafeteria on another? That said, we relied on guesswork.

Luke chose his direction, stern ward, and made his way. We could hear the rumblings of the engine below us. Coal-operated, similar to Fire Nation vessels, but far less efficient. Firebenders could control the flames, but earthbenders the coal. There was an even division of labor in every sense save the sheer technicality. Fire Nation steam engines were more efficient, requiring less coal, taking less weight on a vessel. For an ironclad vessel such as this, operating on appropriated Fire Nation technology in the first place, it was safe to assume where the boilers would be, right below us.

"We need to find a stairw-"

Luke didn't.

He shot a spurt of flame at a support beam in the wall. The rope securing it burnt, followed by the wood that splintered on contact from the small-scale explosion, bursting into tiny wooden shards in nearly every direction, collapsing in on itself as the floor fell beneath it, a testimony to the faults of the Earth Kingdom Navy.

And Lou and behold, there beneath us was the engine room of the vessel, a pair of shocked engine operators peering up at us, two Fire Nation soldiers aboard their ship, their home. Even I was in shock as to what Luke had in mind, but that kid did not hesitate. He dropped down into the room, using the broken flooring to spring off with a jump, getting to the boiler room all the quicker, sending a burst of flame into the first engine operator, sending him recoiling backward into the hatches of his boiler, the flames engulfing him.

No shortage of flame at his disposal, Luke sent the flames from the boiler into the second operator, a constant stream of flame engulfing him as Luke reveled in the heat and taste of war.

I was still watching in a horrified awe as the rest of the boiler room sprang to life, no aware of their crippled and weathering superstructure, not to mention the pair of infiltrators. The nearest pair of operators approached, ready to apprehend the young firebender. I wouldn't wait. Still on the floor above, I unsheathed my blade, dropping down on top of the first operator, shoving my blade his companion, through the side, using my leg to kick him away, allowing me to pull my bladed out. The man beneath me, still struggling to rise, ended his writhing as Luke plunged his blade with his right arm into the downed man's head, firing a bolt of flame over my shoulder to the oncoming pair.

They had already chosen their means of offense, bending the coal, their fuel into a barrier in front of them, blocking the onslaught of red-hot energy. I bolted left, Luke bolted right, both of us aware of the counterattack that would ensue, narrowly dodging the shards of sharpened coal that proceeded in our direction, bouncing off of the boilers, more of them hitting their shortly-deceased friends, still dead on the ground, than us who were still safer in cover.

Luke nodded to me. I knew. We were in the very room we were sent to sabotage, to destroy. We didn't have to wait this fight out. We needed to end this here and now. He needed a distraction to get a shot. A good shot at a boiler, enough to increase the steam pressure too much to the point it would burst, and our job would be done. I nodded back. The corpse of the dead engine operator on the ground. I pulled it by the arm towards me, raising him just enough to provide me cover as I made my way forward, using him as cover. I heaved him up, raising him enough to cover me should I remain crouched. I left cover, and moved forward, the hostile projectiles making their way into their companion's carcass.

Luke took the opportunity, the distraction, firing over me towards the nearest boiler. The shot went in, the fuel burnt, the pressure built, and the pipe burst, the following explosion sending shards of shrapnel in all directions, impaling the nearest man, tearing him apart at the shoulder, a fragment of red hot iron cutting through him, cutting him in two right in front of me. By the time I was off of the ground, the side of the ship was already exposed to the world beyond, the Black Sea now turning red already finding its way inside. Luke was on the ground too, somewhere behind me, by some miracle unscathed, just as I. I was still holding on to the corpse of the man I had, just a few seconds ago, used as a human shield, his face directly facing mine. From his back, I could see the sharp of metal protruding from his spine, his lifeblood seeping onto my fingers. I pushed him off of me, no longer believing myself to need the cover.

"Zek," Luke called. "You good."

I patted myself down, actually considering whether or not I was still alive even as the ocean pooled around my legs. _Was I? _"Yeah!" I called. "I think?"

I heard a shuffle behind him, where the operators had been not a few moments ago, as one rose from the pile of wood and metal shrapnel, making one last effort to deter the boarding party. He failed. Luke took his hand off at the wrist, shoving him face first into the water, holding him there, waiting, the half-dead armless man struggling with whatever he had left in to avoid the cool embrace of death. He failed as he was held there, facing upwards, looking beyond a thin film of water separating him from life and oxygen, trapped beneath the blood-red sea.

I just watched. What more **could **I do. Part of me wanted to watch. Is this what he felt? What he felt when he killed? I killed before, but, not like this. He enjoyed it.

The man stopped struggling, and the bubbles stopped rising. The sea was still making its way through the sea. The sea itself was rising. Or, more accurately put, we were the ones sinking.

"Luke" I called. He let go of the man's neck, and the body slipped away from him, pushed by the incoming waves. "Let's go."

He nodded, refusing to talk. He rose from where he was crouched above the carnage he had caused. **We **had caused.

We pushed our way through the rising sea, past accumulating debris and destruction. The explosions were still rocking the ship around us. _Did we really have this much of an impact? We had done some damage, yes, but this much? _

We found our way up out of the boiler room soon enough, moving past the crew quarters who were probably now either boarding our own vessel, or setting to repairing the damage we had brought upon them. Explosions continued to rock the decks as we moved upwards and upwards, the light of day shining through the entrance into the outside world, then it wasn't, then again, once more, it was. _What?_

We were above decks. Nobody aboard even noticed us. They were busy. The artillery was firing. _What? Why would they be firing at us? The boarding party should be having no trouble. It's 2 kids, one of them injured, and one half-starved captain._

I looked towards our own ship, to just assess our status with my own eyes, but where there had been one Fire Nation destroyer before, there was that, its stern nigh completely demolished, and a Fire Nation battlecruiser, in all its might, artillery aimed directly towards us, ready to sink this ship to the bottom of the sea, in fact, already in the act of doing so. _The other explosions. But where did they come from? We're they from the outpost, here to save the lives of those they thought to be their very own comrades in arms._

"Let's go!" Luke called, heading back towards the rear of our ship to board our skiff and get out of here. But I had something more to do. A promise to keep. The girl in the captain's hold. Luke knew what I was thinking. "Don't," he said.

"She doesn't belong here!"

"Neither do we! Let's go!"

Back onboard our own ship, it was his determination and resolved that had terrified me. That had me in awe. Now, it was the other way around. He wouldn't get his way. Not this time. He could see that, but it didn't matter. I wasn't leaving anybody to die here. Not anybody that didn't deserve it.

"Fine. Go!"

I ran to the quarters of the captain, and found her, lying on the ground, and the man himself who I was now positive was the subject of her terror upon waking up. Stocky build, broad shoulders, and a face that put only one word in my head when he turned to face me from where he was securing the last of his loot before abandoning ship—monster.

He turned, knife in hand, thinking himself at an advantage. He staggered in his first steps towards me, drunk. _Of course. _

I unsheathed my blade. It wasn't even a fight. He had already been celebrating his victory over the under-equipped, derelict, Fire Nation destroyer. The last thing he had been expecting was a fight. Much less to get his own hands dirty. My blade slid into his stomach as he raised his knife to bring it down as though it were a great sword. It fell with a pathetic clang to the ground.

He tumbled over backwards, a beast of a man, the blood gathering in his mouth, bubbling as it seeped over his lips onto the ground around him, already dead in a pool of his own blood, taking his last breath as I, putting effort into every one of my movements, picking up his whore around the waist, raising her above the ground, scooping her up as though she were a new-born babe, taking whatever care I could. The ship was low enough in the sea that it was a simple walk outside of the quarters, onto the main deck, and a simple step onto our skiff, still floating, yet still tethered to the sinking ship. I Placed the small girl carefully onto the deck of the skiff as Luke loaded whatever loot he could muster from the Captain's quarters, soon enough cutting the chain keeping us tethered to the sinking ship.

A few Earth Kingdom sailors and soldiers tried stopping us, but slowed by the water accumulating around their legs, they were fish in barrels, running to the slaughter, all approaches dead before they could even come within 5 yards' distance of us.

Soon enough, however, we were away, abandoning the victims of the catastrophe that was the failed boarding party behind us, as they sunk beneath the black-red waves.

**Boss**

The Fire Nation crosier towered over ours, its thicker, stronger hull rising even above the peak of our command tower itself, a superior ship in every sense of the word as we sailed, broken sterned, derelict, literally in its shadow, our destroyer made night-black by the shadowy monstrosity to our side, concealing the setting sun as it sailed to our west, parallel to our own hull but facing the opposite direction, towards our attackers, who now sank into the merciless the sea, the last of the flames engulfing the vessel being extinguished alongside whatever life remained aboard the vessel.

I was on the command balcony, or rather, the small overlook constructed to observe threats from our rear. It was partially shrouded by the primary steam funnel, rising above the command tower itself, but enough of a view was provided for me to witness the outcome of the skirmish, floating debris in place of where a great threat to our very existence once sat, a water-born deliverance. There was only one sight that mattered to be, however, the survival of our skiff, and there it was, 2 aboard, mine own, survivors of what had just passed. _A damned miracle._

_How far were we from Whale Tail island? Somebody tell me that much. _I got an answer, of sorts, as the "friendly" battlecruiser moved past us, in the opposite direction, to our starboard side. It was impossible to hear what was being yelled over the metal whir of their propellers pushing them through the sea, but they their body movement said enough. "Stop."

_Damnit. We survived one vessel, by the grace of Raava. We wouldn't survive this one. Our best chance, doing what they said._

"Jadoh," I said, facing the pale-faced boy. He didn't answer at first. His cloud-white hands still clutching the spear, haphazardly too, facing the ladder that led to the command deck, seemingly unaware that the danger, at least from the Earth Kingdom destroyer, was over. "Jadoh!" I called again. He turned to face me, confused, as though my words were battling each other in his head. My saying "Don't take your eyes off that ladder, and now calling his attention away. _This was the first time he'd been in danger lie this before. That much was easy to see. How old did he even say he was? _"The battle's over. Get down to the engines, cut them, then held Luke and Zek get aboard. Got it?"

"The-he battle's-"

"Over. Yes. You heard what I said?"

He shook his head.

I repeated my words to him, "Cut the engines, and help Luke and Zek get aboard."

He nodded, left, leaving me alone on the command deck of this ship that was falling apart by the minute. We suffered 3 collisions. I couldn't see the full extent of the damage where I was, but assuming we managed to dock, we'd need repairs. _Hell, what am I even going to say? We're pretending to be Fire Nation, quite poorly at that, and we're going to ask a poorly stocked outpost as is to repair our ship, supply us with food, water, and medicine, and send us along the way to somewhere we can find mercenary work, possibly against the Fire Nation themselves. We'll be lucky if they __**only **__execute us. _But our luck was out. It had been out a long time ago. We somehow got out of this battle alive, but I couldn't say much more for what came next. _I did what I had to. I was confident. They believed it. And somehow, I kept them alive. Through this one at least, but how much longer?_

I felt our engines, or what was left of them, cut out below me, our ship coming to a progressive stop. The battlecruiser was looping around our rear, circling across our stern, assessing the damage. I was watching it as intently as I could. Soon enough, after they had assessed our rear damage for a good 3 minutes, a small patrol skiff emerged from its rear, headed our way. As it neared, I could soon enough count those aboard. 5, plus the driver, 6. Enough for us to fight. Maybe, but we'd be blown out of the water soon enough. I saw what it did to the Earth Kingdom destroyer, took it out of commission and sent it to its watery grave in a matter of seconds. Not a force I was willing to trifle with by a long shot.

_They'll be heading to our stern skiff bay. Or whatever was left of it. I should go down to accompany them aboard. And make sure nobody killed each other._

So with a degree of haste, I rushed down, through the bridge, down the superstructure ladder, into the cool dark bowels of the ship, no gas pumping through to provide lighting, a floating corpse.

Then there was the light ahead. So the stern door was already opened, good, probably not closed since the battle, made sense. Yet when I got down, the situation wasn't that the stern hatch was raised, nor that the ramp was lowered. Rather, we seemed to be lacking a stern in its entirety. It was a miracle the damage didn't extent further south beyond the water line, or we'd be facing a similar fate as our old adversaries.

In the bay, however, was not the tense situation I had been expecting. Rather, both skiffs were loaded into rear already, its appropriate crews already disembarked, or in this case, embarked onto a barely larger vessel, and they were conversing. All apparel led in Fire Nation uniforms, 6 of them real soldiers, 3 of them in disguise, one that seemed to be working, or so I hoped.

"This must be the captain," said the leading crewman by the looks of him. _2 firebenders judging by their masks. We have one of our own, but a kid. He wouldn't win, right? _But then there were 4 others, armed, armored, veterans by the looks of them. Now I even doubted our combined ability to take down half of them. We didn't seem to have much of a choice. So when the leading soldier offered his hand, I took it, shaking it, allies, for the moment.

"You took quite a hit. You're all damn lucky to still be floating."

"We appreciate the help. We'd probably be shark bait if it weren't for you."

"Give yourselves **some **credit. We saw the explosion two of your boys did," he said, referring to Luke and Zek, who, _what?_

"Yep," laughed one of the other troops. "Older one even took a prize for himself it seems."

_Zek_. He held a girl in his arms, scooped in his arms as though she were a 5-year old, carried off to bed by her loving parents after falling asleep in some manner of an awkward position beforehand. _But what is she doing here? _So, I asked as such.

"She was in the captain's quarters, sir. We think he was just using her. Couldn't just leave her behind while the ship sank."

I nodded. I wasn't in the mood to argue this. And I didn't have the time. We had company.

"Cute one too," continued the banter between the soldiers from the neighboring vessel. "Nice face on her."

"You were looking at her face? I was looking at- "

"Alright alright," intruded the lead soldier. "Cut the chatter. Captain," he said, returning his attention to me. Southern Raiders I see. Where's the rest of your crew, _raider_?"

I didn't let myself be perturbed by the emphasis he placed on the word, raider, but that didn't stop me from taking note of it. He knew something wasn't lining up quite right. I was determined to make sure that whatever suspicions he **did **have were promptly put at ease. And as far as I could tell at this moment, telling lies would get me nowhere. At least, telling certain lies would get me nowhere. Other lies, well, they were needed to keep me and my crew breathing as long as humanly possible. "This is it. We have an injured man below decks."

"Only 5 of you? On this ship? Alone? Well damn. I take back what I said. You **are **lucky we came along when we did. What the hell are you doing out here, in an outdated Fire Navy vessel?"

"Out of uniform too," added one of the soldiers further behind.

_So they caught both points of discourse right away. Damn. _Ship's not ours. Borrowed. Haven't gotten around to returning it yet."

"Captain feels attached to his ship. Understandable."

"And the uniforms were just given to us. Guess they ran out of the snazzier ones."

He smiled at that. _Good. _"And out here in the middle of the sea?" he asked.

"Were raiding along the Nip Sea looking for supplies. No luck. Took to the Burning Sea to try our luck down south."

"Didn't work out so well, I see."

"Not quite, no."

"Well. Here's the deal. I was quite impressed by the show your two saboteurs over here put on in taking out that eyesore of a ship. Not to mention your ability to run this thing with only 5 guys, one of whom is out for the count. So tell you what. We'll tow you to our outpost, due South on Whale Tail Island. Seems you were headed that way anyway. We'll repair your damages, load you up with supplies, and send you on your way. Deal?"

_Deal? Deal_?! He was offering the very thing I'd thought we may have to kill these men for, but now, they were just offering it to us on a silver platter. Hell, no, no, it couldn't be. No. Besides. It made no sense. Just giving away supplies? Where was the logic? What was there for him to gain? And who gave him the authority to do so in the first place?

"T-that's. That's far too generous. Besides, would your captain agree to tow us, and would whoever's in charge of the outpost agree to it?"

He scoffed. "Relax, kid. I **am **the captain. And don't worry about whoever runs the outpost. The one who controls its defense force controls the outpost. He'll do what I want if he wants me to stay. Besides, we're expecting new supplies to come in any day now, and we have more than we need. So get these boats secured in nice and tight. Give us a second to get a tow on you, and strap yourselves in. We're going for a ride.

They left, keeping two of their own, the two firebenders onboard. They didn't insist on comfort. Rather, they confided themselves to the main deck, one keeping an eye on the metal chain by which we were being towed, and the other keeping an eye on our rear, ensuring no water was making its way aboard and that there were no further surprises from the Earth Kingdom behind us. For the most, part, however, we were on edge, but there seemed no cause by which to do anything rash.

Zek agreed with me. He had already set the woman down. Coincidentally enough, in his own bed. I needed to keep an eye on him. I doubted he'd do anything, but war and bloodlust did strange thing to men. I didn't take Zek as the kind to succumb to it, at least not now, at his age, but then again, I'd seen better, younger men succumb to the same fate. _Please be wrong._

After he had set the woman to rest and patched up her nose, he came to me aboard the bridge, where I was stationed, keeping an eye on the ship in front of us, but more intently, watching the firebenders below us. _Worse comes to worst, could Luke take them? He'd dispatched Earthbenders with ease before, but firebenders? His own element? _I wasn't sure. Part of me wanted to find out, but my fear told me it was best to avoid such a confrontation at any cost. "You think it's safe?" I asked him.

"I think so. They seem nice enough." _He's still a patriot. Of course. What else would he answer with?_

"You don't think there's any cause for concern?"

"Of course, I do. But they seem friendly enough. Besides, you heard what they said. They have plenty to spare."

"Or they're just luring us into a trap. Want to get us off our ship, onto solid ground where they can trap and surround us."

"There's five of us. If they wanted to take us out, they coulda done so while we were all bundled together like sardines in the skiff bay."

"Maybe. Maybe, but Zek, keep your guard up. We got out of one mess, but I don't want us getting trapped into another."

"Well if it is a trap, we don't have much choice but to spring it. They have us in tow. They have two of their guys on board. And we're out of fuel as is." _Same assessment as me. Just ride it out. _"Just ride it out," he said, mimicking mine own words within my head.

He turned to leave, but one word, "wait," and I held him back. "Who's the girl?"

He sighed. He had hoped to get away before the question was asked but had no such luck. "She was in the captain's quarters on the Earth Kingdom destroyer. I think she was just some port woman he picked up. I didn't want her going down with the ship, so I helped her."

"And the bloody nose? Did she have that when you found her."

There was a pause as he considered what to say next. _Did you hit her, Zek? _"No," he answered. I was so lost in my thoughts I didn't know which question he was answering. The one I spoke, or the one I thought. "Luke. He-She was about to scream and alert the ship. Luke stopped her."

I breathed out, shaking my head at the thought of it. _He wasn't getting any better. He still remembered Ba Sing Se all too well. Whatever he saw, whatever he did, it changed him. It's __**still **__changing him._

"Alright," I said. "She can stay onboard, but when she wakes up, ask her where's she's from. And get her some clothes. I don't want a tits-loose port woman running around my ship. Got it?"

He left, presumably to do what I had asked and provide her with some degree of decency at the very least.

Near half an hour later, I could see the land ahead of us, the island in its might, and the communications tower that protruded from the islands many rock formations, walled off, small hobbles and guard quarters surrounding the perimeter.

The response of the outpost was impeccable. As we neared, the battlecruiser unhooked us, leaving us floating as it docked. Smaller tugs previously docked then approached us, tethering smaller hooks, and pulling us into the dock. In a matter of 5 minutes, we were docked, offboard, our ship being tended to, as "safe" as we could be.

We were offboard the ship as repair crews went about the tasks seemingly by instinct. _Did the captain send a message ahead about our condition? If so, how much did he say? _Gordez had been allowed to stay aboard, still resting. _How much did he sleep through? Did he miss the entire battle altogether? _I couldn't help but grin at the thought, and the pleasure I'd get later out of either telling him what he missed or an explanation of what all the hubbub was about. _If there is a later. This can still very well be a trap. They might know who we are, or worse, who we aren't._

A man came out of the communications tower not long after we had boarded. He was older, but well dressed, not in military uniform. The outpost owner I presumed. If I wasn't sure before, his next comments were enough to confirm that for me. "What the hell is this? Who are you, why are you at **my **outpost, and why the hell, again, are you here?"

I stumbled around my words, stupidly enough as my crew watched on, saying "We-we are."

"They're with me," said the Captain from the battlecruiser whose name I was now beginning to regret I hadn't caught.

"Captain Zeeda, what **is **this?! Why are these, **raiders**, at **my **dock?!" _So Zeeda it was._

"They're here at this dock because they got attacked by an Earth Kingdom destroyer a few miles north of here. An Earth Kingdom destroyer in **your **territory. That **you **should have known about and reported."

"You know my resources are limited, captain. How can I be expected to watch this territory when all I have is you and a few scout ships? And what anyway does this have to do with me repairing their ship?"

"What it has to do with this attack, is that you're falling behind. A friendly vessel was attacked by the enemy in territory **you **should have been watching. The least you can do is make it up to them. And you were whining about your lack of resources, the 'oh-so-pitiful defense force you currently, have, well, I don't have to stay here. Ozai has ordered all personnel, Navy included, to return to the mainland to regroup. So unless you want your 'pathetic force' as you put it to return home, I suggest you do as I say and tend to this ship."

The man glared. He wasn't angry that he had lost. He was angry because he knew that he would continue to lose. He had no power here. He saw that much. He was the captain's puppet. And he knew it. He looked at me now when he said it. "Fine. What supplies do they need?"

"Tell them, Captain," said Zeeda. _Great. Making __**me **__say it._

"Food, water, medicine, and fuel. And we'd appreciate any repairs that can be made."

"And throw in a trebuchet for good measure," said Zeeda. "They're ship is lacking proper defenses. Proper anything, now that I think about it. Scratch that. Send a team aboard the ship. Bring it up to operational standards."

"But that would take-"

"Days. A week maybe. So get started. I recommend you do it quickly if you're so concerned about resources. I insist that the crew of this fine vessel feast every night until they're set to leave. Can you handle that, overseer?"

That same glare. "Yes, captain."

He left for the tower to make the necessary arrangements, thoroughly humiliated and stripped of whatever power he thought he held here, reminded of his place once more.

The captain turned to me, smiling. "See? What did I say? Don't worry about it."

"We appreciate the help, but, a week? We can't take up that many of your resources. Besides, we have to get going."

"Oh don't worry. That was just the overseer complaining. We'll have your ship good to go by morning. We have a shipment from the Earth Kingdom deconstruction facilities coming through later on tonight. Lucky timing. We'll pull it over, take what we need to fix up your ship, and have you on your way by tomorrow night at latest."

"Well. Thank you again. We don't know how to thank you."

"Our pleasure, Boss, that _is _what your crew calls you, right Captain. If anything, thank **you **for the target practice. Been too long since we sunk an Earth Kingdom ship. Well. For now, get your boys to town. Get some rest, get some drinks, and enjoy yourselves. You've all been at sea for a while. We'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," I responded, still shocked by the hospitality. "Tomorrow."

"Good to hear, Boss. You raiders have hard jobs. Now get some sleep. You'll need it."

And with that he left, and I wondered, how did he know what my crew called me?

**Jadoh**

It was my first time since joining this little band of brothers that I'd stepped foot on solid land. So naturally, the first place we went was the local tavern. It was a small wooden building suspended by wooden beams off of the mountain cliff, hugging the wall of the communications tower.

We sat in the tavern with Boss and some of the men from the FNS Phoenix, the ship that had saved us. I wasn't sparing myself from their conversation, nor their drinks. I was happy to finally be involved in something sociable again. _What do I mean again? No. I'd never done anything like this before. _Never in my life had I been with people like this, drinking, having fun. The last time I had friends had been back in my hometown. Then they volunteered for the war, while my father held me back. I never heard from my only friends again.

I downed another shot to blunt the thoughts of my hometown. It was a subject I didn't like to catch myself pondering. It only brought back pain and suffering to think about it. I called for another cup to come, raising my hand with an extended finger, no, two fingers for the barmaid to see.

She was walking over to the counter to grab my drinks when one of the soldiers pulled her onto his lap, digging his face into her exposed cleavage before receiving a backhanded slap across the face, to which his compatriots, myself included, laughed as the red mark on his face faded into his now pink cheeks, flushed from embarrassment, likely having been put up to it by one of his comrades across the table, who promptly slid a silver piece his way.

The drinks came, and I downed them. _It felt good. Nice. Warm. A fuzzy feeling. One many people looked for in the acclaimed 'vices' of the world. Drinks, drugs, women, for some, killing. Like Luke. He liked killing. I could see that in him. Wherever he went, the room grew instantly cooler. He had the atmosphere of a murderer around him. I once tried asking what his story was. When I got no answers from him, I asked the others. All I learned, is that something happened in Ba Sing Se. What, I didn't know. And part of me didn't want to know. _I didn't want to think about it. I called two more drinks over, and down they went. _So warm. And the company here. Not like Luke. Not cold. Warm. Hot. _I was talking the whole while, but the conversation I spoke was blending in with the world around. I couldn't hear their words, and they couldn't hear mine. It was fine. We weren't talking to have conversation. We were talking to talk. I raised my hand again, three fingers this time, but another hand brought them down. I turned around to see who the hand belonged to.

"B-Boss?" I remember myself saying.

"You've had enough. I paid for a room. It's up the stairs, first one to right."

"It-It's gets mightly lon-lonly. Can I bring, me for company?"

"No. Get up and go to sleep. We leave tomorrow."

"But, a weeke. W-we have week here."

"We leave tomorrow. Go."

"But-But whyyy'I leave? Howbu Leuke and Zak?"

"They're not here. Only you, and your time here's up. Get to sleep."

_Luke and Zek aren't here? Where are they? _ I wanted to say hi. "Whey r' they?"

"Luke's in the city, walking. Zek's on the ship, with Gordez."

"Your captain means he's with the girl!" said one of the soldiers from across the table. They laughed. I laughed. _I wish I had a girl. Lucky Zek. It should've been me who saved her. Not him. I deserve some love too._

I turned to Boss again. I wanted someone to keep me company the night. "Plees, Buss. I'll peigh with mie monee. Just won gurl. Fer tonide?"

Boss looked down on me. He was smiling. _Yes. It worked._

"Stand up straight. And I'll pay for whoever you want. 1. 2. Hell. Every woman in here you can find." _Yes! This'll show Zek not only he can have the ladies._

I pushed the bench aside, stood up on my own two feet, and the next think I saw was the wooden floor as it rushed up to greet me.

**Zek**

I listened at the door to my room first before entering. _Is anyone inside. _I pressed my ear to the steel door. _No. That's not going to do anything. It's too thick as is. _I moved the clothes over to my right hand, draping the smallest shirt I could find and the smallest pants I could find in our inventory here over my right arm as I knocked on the door with my left.

There was no answer. _She was breathing when I found her, right? Yeah. She had to be. I could feel her heartbeat when I carried her and when I cleaned her nose. She had to be fine, right?_

I knocked again, with a similar response. She must still be asleep. _Okay. I'll walk in, put the clothes over the chair, and leave her be. When she wakes, she can put them on herself. _I reached to open the door. _Should I leave a note? Say that we're docked? That she's safe? Where to find me? _I reached for a piece of paper. _No. I don't have any paper. What if I just wait outside? The hall's not too uncomfortable. _I could only slightly hear the work of the repair crews underneath me. It wasn't loud. Just a silent buzz of activity from below us. If anything, it was comforting. I was back at the Fire Nation. Or as close as I got to it, I supposed. _Okay. I'll leave a note. I'll drop off the clothes, get a piece of paper, write a note, bring it back, then wait outside, in case she doesn't get the note. Okay._

I, ever so softly, with my free arm, turned the wheel on the door as it depressurized, and slipped open. I took my first step inside, and as though today's earlier events were happening all over again, she popped out of bed, opened her mouth to scream, half-naked just as she was before, but this time, no sword hilt knocked her down. She screamed.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I yelled, immediately entering the hall again. "I didn't know you were up!"

She was done screaming. At least so I thought, until she screamed again when I reached in to set down her clothes. This time, at least, she mixed in the occasional question with her yells. "Who are you?! What do you want?!" Her voice wasn't high. It wasn't low either. She didn't sound like a little girl, and she certainly didn't look so young as she did before, though the look had been short. I was out in the hallway. Back against the wall, facing the opposite wall, not looking anywhere in her direction.

"I'm a friend," I said. "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to help you."

"Where am I? This is a Fire Nation ship, right?"

"Yes. But don't worry. We're not going to hurt you."

"You're Fire Nation. Of course you're going to hurt me."

"No. I promise. I'm not. **We're **not. Can I come in? I have some clothes for you. I'll close my eyes."

"No! You can't trust the Fire Nation."

"Please. I promise you. We won't do anything."

"We? There's more of you outside?"

_Damn it, Zek. _"No. Just me. I'm the only one here. I promise. Can I at least leave the clothes for you by the door? You must be cold."

There was a pause. I imagined she was thinking of what I said. Wondering how she could make sure I was telling the truth, or at least safely go about this. I didn't blame her. In her position, I'd likely do the same. "Fine!" She said. "Leave it by the door. Then walk down the hall. And don't face the door."

I did as she said. I set the clothes gently on the ground in a single pile. They were men's clothing, the smallest we had. They wouldn't fit her. Not even close. But she'd be covered, and not exposed to the Winter atmosphere. I took 10 audibly loud sounds away, not changing the pressure of my steps so she could know I was further away. I stood there for a while. A minute maybe. I heard the rustle of cloth behind me. I didn't turn. I waited. Another minute. Then asked, "Can I turn around now?"

_I didn't leave anything sharp in there, right?_

"Okay. Turn around." _Damn it, Zek. _She had me at knifepoint. **My **knife. Yet I wasn't focusing on the knife. I was focusing on her. The clothes barely fit around her. She was a stick compared to the smallest sizes we had. Her hair was soaked in sweat, hanging over her shoulders. She was shivering still, despite the sweat already accumulating on her clothing. And her face. Even with the nose that may well be broken, she housed a peculiar beauty. A particular cuteness. She was by no means unattractive. I could hardly take my eyes off of her. Until, of course, I realized the severity of my situation, and refocused on the knife pointed at my face.

I sighed. "Look. It's as I said. We're not going to hurt you."

"Of course you are. You're no different from the rest. Fire Nation. Earth Kingdom. You don't care who you come across. You all take what you want."

"We're not like that"

"Oh shut up. Of course you are. Southern Raiders too. I heard the captain say that before he left to fight you all. Before you sunk that ship and knocked me out."

"I'm sorry about that. I'm really sorry about your nose. We didn't-"

"Shut up! I'm talking. I know what the Southern Raiders are like. Thieves, murderers, rapists. Nuh uh. I'm not sticking around for this."

"We're at a Fire Nation port. You go outside, and I guarantee you, you'll be far less safe than you are in here."

"Maybe if I cause enough trouble, they'll just kill me. That's better than what you **raiders **will do to me."

She motioned me against the wall, I complied. She was moving past me. I couldn't let her. I moved in her direction, blocking her path again. She waved the knife, but this time, I didn't move.

"Please," I said. "Just wait for a second. And let me talk."

"No. Now get out of my way. I'll stab you if I have to. Believe me. It would be my pleasure to slice up a raider."

"My name is Zek. I'm from Yu Dao. I used to serve the Crimson Battalion under Lu Ten. I was at the Siege of Ba Sing Se. There I defected."

"Wh-" She paused. That got her attention. "Defected?"

"Yes. I left the Fire Nation army. Along with everyone else on this ship."

"But the ship."

"We stole it. From the Fire Nation. We're hiding out on it now. Getting odd jobs from here to there, trying to help those suffering from the war. Those being targeted by the Earth Kingdom **and **by the Fire Nation."

"H-How do I know I can believe this?"

"I have papers. They say I was honorably discharged, but that's a lie. Our commander just did that so we wouldn't be hunted. We chose to leave."

"Papers? Papers can be faked."

"Maybe, but I think there's a certain degree of trust that comes from announcing I'm a Fire Nation traitor while in the middle of a Fire Nation port. Don't you think?"

"M-Maybe."

"So. Do you think, seeing as how I trust you, you can at least give me your name?"

She lowered her knife. Not to the ground, but only slightly so that if it were a crossbow, it would go through my stomach rather than through my eyes. "It's. It's Ka'lira."

"Ka'lira," I said, slowly closing the gap between us. Putting 4 feet between us in place of 5. "That's a really nice name. Where are you from?"

"I'm from. I'm from Omashu." She lowered her knife a bit more, and I reduced the distance between us to 3 feet.

"Omashu, huh? I heard of that city. Always wanted to go. Fast mail system, right?"

She chuckled. "Yeah. You have that right, at least."

"Yeah," I said, closing the distance between us to 2 feet. "Yu Dao always did have that problem. Never could trust our messenger hawks. Lot of them die in the smoke from the industry. It's sad. What's sadder is that the colonial government tried sending out invoices to everyone in the city to not send messages my messenger hawk. Sadly, they sent those invoices by hawk, and none of the messages made it."

At that she actually did laugh. It was a horrible joke. One based off of real events in Yu Dao. Or rather, a simple interpretation of events. The foundation was real, that the colonial government sent warnings by hawk. But only 5 of the hawks died. We just took creative liberties and said that all died. More entertaining that way.

I was now a foot away from her, and I extended an arm for her to hand me the knife. "Can I have the knife back, or you can keep it if you want, but can you at least not point it at me?"

She nodded and handed me the knife. _Good. We're on the right track then. _"Okay," she said. "I-I'm sorry about that."

"No no. It's fine. But we don't have to stop talking. How about you tell me more about Omashu's mail system?"

**Boss**

By evening of the next day, all had been set. The morning of this day, everyone had to leave the ship, including a groggy Gordez who we housed in the tavern last night. I had been forced to leave a nice tip for the bartender who had to clean after Jadoh, but they at least let us spend the night and the day there. During the day, our ship was completely refit. Gas lines repaired, lamps set up across the ship, stern fixed, new functioning ramp attached, furniture added, decorations as well as there had been plenty of spare red fabric lying around. By that evening, we were in possession of a fully operational Fire Nation destroyer. The last of its kind likely. Or at least one of.

Luke spent his day near an abandoned part of the island, practicing his firebending. Jadoh was in his room in the tavern, hungover from last night while Gordez was in the same room, sleeping in his bunk. Zek and the girl whose name I still hadn't caught were walking around the city. I trusted Zek to know what he was doing. I could do **that **much for him at least.

The crew was aboard their vessel, doing their final checks before departing. I myself was preparing to leave when Captain Zeeda met me at the dock, moments before we were set to leave. "So you all set to go?" he asked.

"Sure looks that way, I responded. Don't know how we can thank you enough."

"Oh you don't have to. We found some of the loot your boys pulled from the destroyer. The quiet one. He seemed willing to part with it."

"By all means. It's the least we can do for all you've done for us."

"Our pleasure. The enemy of our enemy is our friend. Even if they **are **a raider. That **is **what you are after all, is it not?" I sighed. _Damn. So it all came down to this. But why now? Why after everything he did to help us? Was he toying with us this whole time? No. No. Maybe he was simply suspicious. It wasn't lost yet._

"Of course. Thank you for taking your chances with us, despite our reputation."

"Oh a reputation you do have indeed. You know. It's funny. Speaking of reputation, being here at a communications outpost, of course, we hear a lot about the reputations of other people. For example, over a month ago, we heard about a small crew in Fire Nation armor that attacked a deconstruction facility in the Earth Kingdom West coast. Nabbed themselves a derelict destroyer. Poor condition too. Nigh unequipped. No beds. No furniture. No lighting. Just floating scrap metal.

"Then I saw your destroyer. And I thought it was a coincidence. Besides, you're Southern Raiders. I wouldn't be surprised if you were in an out-of-commission ship, wearing the wrong, non-fitting armor. But something was off. You and your crew. You were all just too damn nice. I've been here a while. Seen plenty of Southern Raiders come and go and you. You guys weren't one of them. So I put two and two together, and your attitude all but gave it away. That, and one other thing."

He reached behind his back, turning. I put my hand on his blade, but he spoke first. "Oh calm down. Here." And out of his back pocket, he pulled out, and unfurled a triangular banner. One of the Southern Raiders. "No," he said. "This isn't yours. See anything different?"

I kept my hand on my blade, looking around, assessing for witnesses. There were none. I could kill him here and now, but I'd be lying if I admitted I wasn't curious. I shook my head.

He smiled. "The new banners don't have a split in the tail. Azulon thought it represented divide I our ranks. Disunity. He had it changed 2 years ago, and if there's one thing every Southern Raider I've met likes to flash around, it's their damned stupid banner." He looked at me now, holding the banner out for me to take, which I did, with my left hand as I kept my right firmly on the hilt of my still-sheathed sword.

"You know," he said, still smiling, seemingly very at ease with the situation. "Now, with the succession of the new Fire Lord, the second in line at that, lots of Fire Nation soldiers, hell, lots of patriots questioning their loyalty. You're lucky you found one of them, but there's a lot more out there. Word of recommendation to you, play close to home. You may not be Fire Nation, but you can still find a lot of friends in it.

"Well. Your ship's in one piece now, and you're set to go. Nearest civilization is due to the Northeast where you'll find Kyoshi island and Chin. I don't recommend it, so I recommend going where you came, further North in the Nip Sea. Continue North, towards the colonies. Lot of word passes through us. You want to see combat and find work, that's where. The Fire Nation is about done regrouping, and Ozai's campaign is just beginning. Good luck to you, Boss. The Fire Nation is counting on real patriots like you."

He turned to leave. "Oh. And one last thing! Give your ship a name! Good for morale!"

And that was the last thing he said before leaving. As we sailed north, headed towards the nearest of the colonies, his words rang through my mind. So as we lowered the banners of the Southern Raiders, I gave one last task to my crew before heading off for the night. So _The Patriot _sailed off into the midnight sky, awaiting its next enterprise.


	10. Interlude 3: The Maiden Voyage

**Boss**

That day, the Patriot embarked on her maiden voyage. Her _true _maiden voyage. She left Whale Tail island a new ship, fully stocked, fully equipped, but not quite fully manned, but we would have to do, for now.

We set north, through the Whale Tail Sea, the straits, naturally avoiding the Kyoshi Sea for fears of not only a clan of militarist fanatics, but a plethora of water-born menaces. Jadoh swore he saw an unagi off the starboard side of our ship, but I was hesitant to say the least. All the same, I wasn't one to tempt fate, so I steered west as a mere precaution.

Once more, and hopefully for the last time in a while, we entered the Burning Sea. That had been after a week of our voyage, what I called the honeymoon period. At the end of that period, the crew was no longer rendered awestruck and, as Zek put it, living their best lives, in response to the kind donation we received. It just so happened that the honeymoon period ended at around the time Gordez fully recovered, coming up to the command bridge at around noon that day, much to my surprise, and, in his usual style, immediately voicing his concerns. To put it in his words, "We can't let ourselves become a charity boat. If we're going to feed these people, they have to work for it. The new girl especially."

So Zek took it in his hands to train her. It had been interesting to watch them over the last few days. Zek, being his usual "chivalrous" self, gave up his dorm to her as he migrated to the actual troops' barracks. He sold it off as her "needing the private space after what she's been through", but I suspected both a double agenda of him wanting to win her favor, and him not quite trusting her alone in the barracks with Jadoh, especially after he heard about the Whale Tail tavern incident.

Despite the clear way Zek felt about her, housing an all-but indisputable crush on her, he didn't push himself. He gave her space and didn't smother her with himself. He seemed to have a good idea of how to go about this. I suspected either an old relationship in the colonies, or perhaps from watching Hizo with his own relationship with Shanzi, the namesake of our armored beauty down below decks. But he kept himself from her, perhaps from a fear of scaring her off coupled with a fear of going to far and perhaps confessing something he didn't yet feel comfortable saying. It was, however, humorous to see how he'd shoot to attention whenever she approached him, never missing the change to engage with conversation with her.

For 2 weeks we traversed the Burning Sea northbound, that phase of the voyage conveniently beginning at the honeymoon's end. So as we traversed the site of one of the 'greatest fishing competitions in history', as Zek liked to call it much to the annoyance of the crew over him making light of a genocide, we trained.

The days would go on rather casually at first. We'd wake up sporadically, no defined wake-up time nor curfew, waking between 0700 and 0900. While I hadn't set a strict schedule, I did insist on us using standard Fire Nation military time. To stay consistent at the very least. Funny enough, Ka'lira had the easiest time getting used to it. While the rest of us had been military men, for the last 2 years besieging Ba Sing Se, time had lost almost all meaning. Days blended with each other or even ceased to exist what with the soot and smog of the battle and the artillery. Ka'lira, I imagined, travelling with sailors who lived by the hour for currents and winds, must've gotten to know it with quite the experience. After waking, we'd all eat at around 0930. Those who woke up before 0900, namely me, Luke, and Gordez, we'd occupy our mornings in other ways. Gordez would check on the engines, doing some early morning routines, ensuring they were still running, shoveling in the coal. On occasion, Luke would help him out. On other days, Luke would spend his mornings reading. He mostly did so in his room, but from time to time, on darker, cloudier days, I'd find him outdoors. He seemed to have become quite fond of such weather, embracing the cold breeze of winter, reveling in the lack of sun. It was odd, I remembered some side comments he used to make back in Ba Sing Se. About how he hated the rain. Hated the cold. All comments one would expect from a fire bender, but much like with many other things when it came to Luke, something changed.

I, however, would spend my mornings locked on the bridge. I couldn't complain. The lighting was great, very open, not cramped with a full command crew, just open, free, my own little den where I'd consult my maps, check the weather, all these usual command duties. I'd consult Gordez more than 'from time to time,' relying on his expertise not only when it came to the ship, he now considered a child of his, but with more tactical and vital decisions. Every commander needed a number two. Zek was easily distracted and not exactly a "tactical mastermind." Jadoh was too new, as was Luke to an extent, and besides, I needed a number two, not some quiet kid who watched me from a corner. And of course, Ka'lira had the same issue as Jadoh. No. Gordez was the only logical choice right now.

After breakfast, still feasting on the rations and dried goods we got from Whale Tail, we would set out for our days. Gordez would not often participate in the training. He'd spend his days below decks, managing the ship beneath our feet, ensuring we were still in one piece and still as operational as possible with a crew of 6. While I had no doubt, he was keeping himself busy, a part of me felt that Gordez just naturally felt at home amidst all the machinery. Hell, even back in Ba Sing Se, Gordez would sleep by the motor pool, or, for Raava's sake, even by the artillery batteries just because the sound of the machinery put him to sleep. Guy was quite unusual in that regard.

After ensuring we were on course, I'd see to it personally to teach Jadoh as best as I could. When we first recruited him, we were practically starving and dying of thirst, so we didn't exactly have the time to concern ourselves over training. Now though, now that we had the time, I was going to make sure he got the experience he needed. The first 3 or 4 days, I'd get myself acquainted in the fighting styles of my crew. Ba Sing Se was almost a lifetime ago and I had to see for myself just what I was working with. For those first few days, I'd train directly with Luke, Jadoh, and Zek. The first day was simple sword fighting. I'd have loved to train them in hand-to-hand combat, yet I found that, as of late, my own abilities in that field were quite lacking. So I stuck to what I knew.

**Zek**

Boss had us assemble that morning on the main deck of the ship, facing the full brunt of the late winter wind, chilling me quite literally to the bones. I could only be thankful for the fact that he still had us in full battle-ready attire or I'm rather sure I wouldn't have even made it this long just standing here waiting for the real practice to begin.

Earlier this morning, Gordez had been helping Boss pulley down a number of items from the armory, which had now been nicely arranged into a makeshift training center out here. When you left the superstructure, you could find all manners of arms and armor. On the right was the common sword sparring area, with a nice rack neatly arranged with multiple practice sword, and about 4 practice dummies arranged in a pentagon shape of sorts. Quaint. To the left we had an area I could only assume was delegated the "spear" practice area, with a just-as-nice rack, but sadly, no training dummies. I imagined we'd recycle the ones from the sword practice area to that end. And directly ahead, clearly the longest stretch of deck space, was a shoddily assembled archery range, where the racks, I imagined, mark the firing zones, and the barrels of hay ahead, our targets.

It was no Fire Nation academy, but it was, well, as insulting as it sounded, it was cute. It was a start, that was for sure, and a good means of not lagging too far behind. It was necessary, and it was a good start if there ever was one. Next to that, it was quite amusing seeing Boss having absolutely no idea how to train us. He knew how to lead us, but training us, well, that was something quite else. Then again, it was his first day at this. I couldn't give him too much shit, but, while he **was **still struggling, holding on with dear life, I was going to enjoy myself.

"Alright, alright!" He started, already making as much of an effort as possible to assert dominance. It wasn't something I was insulting, but I could tell he was trying. And when you can tell somebody is trying rather than having it come naturally to them, it's not the best for confidence. "Gather around!"

We gathered. I instinctually looked back around at the superstructure to see if Ka'lira had come out to watch. She hadn't. In one sense, it hurt. In the other, I considered it a relief. Truth be told, I had no idea just how much I remembered from my days in the academy, and I couldn't exactly say that the siege had prepared me for ground combat. I was a tanker. I spent my days driving a tank, clearing the path for the real fighters. It was nice to not have the pressure of this, today. I looked at the others around me next. Jadoh, he was confident, but nothing about his composure equalized to that. He was sloppy. Could barely hold his sword right. He had the proper grip, but he was too tight, holding his sword in a rigid position, great for defense and certain swings, but completely wrong for now. He would wear himself out before the training even began at this rate. Luke on the other hand, he seemed to be holding himself far better. Sword gripped nicely, switching it from hand to hand, limbering up. _Smart_. I could see Boss noticed too by the look he gave. All the same, he continued.

"We've been out of practice for quite a while! We're changing that. I want to see just how much you remember from the academy," he said, looking between both me and Luke, "and whether or not any of you have some natural talent," he continued, now shifting his gaze to Jadoh, who straightened his posture at the self-recognition. He believed in himself. A part of me wanted to see him fall flat on his ass at least 10 times before the day was done. Actually, _all _of me wanted to see him fall flat on his ass at least 10 times before the day was done.

I got my wish. And far far more. "We'll start with some sword practice!" Boss said, clearly still taking himself a tad bit too seriously. "The sword," he elaborated, "is the foundation of every soldier's weaponry." _Oh boy. _"Perfect for medium to short range encounters, the sword can be used in a number of ways from hacking an opponent's limb off, to delivering a well-timed and precise blow. _He was sidetracking. Trying to hard. _"To be a proper soldier, a proper warrior, one must know how to use a sword. I will be teaching you today how to properly yield one. Only then," _Please stop. _"Can you all be proper fighting machines."

It ended, and there was no reaction from us. He noticed, and tried as he could to hide it, he felt pretty humiliated. I wanted to think he wouldn't be making the same mistake. I was just praying once the training began, he'd be far more down-to-earth. Last thing we needed was a commander who felt as though he had to educate us as far back as first-year academics.

He cleared his throat. "Right," he said, trying to recover. "Grab a weapon!"

We went to the training rack, naturally forming a quaint single file line of 3, individually grabbing and testing the weight of different blades. Luke grabbed the first one I had considered, one I felt to be too light, but I imagined for him was better suited considering his smaller size, though not by too much. He was around that age already, growing quite significantly, to an even startling extent.

"Pick a dummy! I was to see what you know before I start anything!" He was cooling down now. Good. Noticed his earlier mistake. As entertaining as it was, it would be nice to leave that behind. We chose our individual targets of our abuse, going to town on them however we could. I stuck to heavier blows at the face and torso region, seeing what I could do to bring down the dummy. They were weighed down at the base with solid lead. Took quite the effort to bring them down. I relief on heavier attacks at the upper body. Meanwhile, Luke was shifting his attention towards the appendages, a smart move for his size, bringing the enemy down to his level, then finishing it. With the training dummies, however, he didn't have the same success as he would have with a living being, but the method was there, and quite solid at that. Jadoh on the other hand, was experiencing a harder time. Hell, on his first swing, not expecting the mass of the target, the sword went flying out of his hand. Needless to say, he had no method, but maintained his confidence, and when given the slightest pointer by Boss, would reply with "I know I know" or "I was doing that!"

So Boss, in time, had enough, and decided it was time for sparring. He knew that Luke and I had a grasp on what we needed and gave us leave to practice at our pleasure. Boss, however, spent his day with Jadoh, and, believe me, I counted, knocked him on his ass 57 times. It was a sight to behold. From that day, he took Jadoh under his metaphorical wing.

From that point, Luke and I would primarily practice together. Not necessarily with each other, but more or less with the same routines. The same practices, drills, forms, you name it. That first day, we spent all of morning working on swordplay. Turns out, my methodology didn't work out so well when it came to him, a far smaller, and definitely more agile figure. His faster, weaker, more precise blows brought me down a number of times. It was, not humiliating, but slightly emasculating. I was only glad Ka'lira wasn't around at the time. It went on like this until I realized what I did have on my side, sheer strength and brute force. I fought dirty. I grabbed him, pulled him to the ground, punched. These things he couldn't avoid just as easily, but he wasn't one, being a street kid, to ignore a dirty fight. And it got dirty. I know how it must have looked from an outsider perspective, but there was no anger when we fought. Hell. I think we were both quite enjoying it. I'd throw him to the ground, he'd knock me off my feet, and we'd essentially be wrestling. It went that way for quite a while until one of us either did something or said something that could've been observed as actual fighting, and Boss was forced to intervene, breaking us apart.

There was, however, no anger in our skirmish. After we had broken apart, we smiled at each other, brushing the dust off of ourselves. So he enjoyed it too. _Good._

We ate that afternoon at around 1300. We all sat together; all save Gordez who took his meals below on a lunch-date with the rear turbine. Our meals consisted of more MREs. I wasn't one to complain. These had been my diet for the last 2 and a half years. I wasn't about to start complaining now. Jadoh on the other hand, did complain, much unlike Ka'lira, who seemed happy just to eat with company that didn't pose a risk of raping her any minute. Or at least, likely not. I trusted them, but I couldn't say whether or not she did quite yet. I wanted to believe she trusted me at this point. While there was no way to be sure, she did seem to either stick with nobody, or me. So perhaps she didn't quite trust me, but she distrusted me least, which is saying something, I guess.

After we ate, after watching Jadoh get his ass handed to him some more, Luke and I practiced our spear work, something I excelled at. He may have had me beat at sword work, but his practice with the spear was shoddy to say the least, yet still, I was concerned. He learned quick. By the end of that day, I maintained my edge over him, but damn did he make me work for it. That night, while the rest of us retired with a final meal, I didn't know what Luke was up to. But I could see the way the sky lit up from the barracks where I had chosen a nice corner bunk for myself. I knew he was tuning his real weapon and judging from the way the ship lit up when he did. I knew he was giving it his all. And something about that actually terrified me. He was our ally, but there was something disconcerting about the idea of having somebody with his ever-growing destructive potential so near.

On the fourth day, we kept at our usual schedules, except this time, we had a visitor—Ka'lira. Luke and I were still early on in our sword practice, which clearly, meant nothing good for me. "Hey, Luke," I said when I saw she had taken a seat outside and was observing. "Mind if we switch to spears for now?"

He gave me a look of confusion until he followed my gaze to where she sat. I was expecting some snide remark about me wanting to impress her as it was obvious, he picked up that much, but instead, he smiled and said "Sure. Let's go."

He even went easy on me. Not to say I wouldn't have won if he hadn't, but he allowed me some fanciful hits he could have easily blocked or dodged. He put up a fight enough to put himself to the test, but when it came down to it, he let me have the day. It went on that way for a while. Luke took it easy on me on the condition we ended earlier so he could practice on his own. He didn't ask for anything else. Something about that worried me, but I was likely being paranoid.

On the seventh day of training, her time as an observer was over. She joined in an unofficial capacity of sorts. I helped her as best as I could, but as time went by, I started to realize something. I was hardly getting anywhere on my own. Luke was taking it easy on me, but we no longer drilled together as I focused on helping Ka'lira, but I realized clearly enough, I needed somebody better than me. Luke was enough to challenge me, and that had been working, but it was clear who I needed. I needed Boss, but his work with Jadoh was far from over. And until I could get help from him, I was going nowhere. So as Jadoh was brought up to speed, I idled, helping Ka'lira as best as I could, not that there was much I **could **do. On the 9th day of training, we found land. The maps listed it as Jianghe, a series of islands off the coast of Hong Chen. It was there that we started to realize. We could no longer allow ourselves to be unprepared.


	11. Chapter 8: The Visit

**Luke**

"Wake up."

It was her voice. Again. Raava. No. I was done. I wouldn't listen.

"You cannot ignore me forever."

Just ignore it.

"You can refuse to answer me, but you know I will not leave."

I closed my eyes. It was the dead of night. Why now? _She just wants me to answer out of desperation. _I won't.

So I didn't.

But she didn't leave. "You cannot disregard the voice inside your head. Speak to me and we can be through with this all the sooner."

I was tired. I was tired of her and I wanted sleep. She wouldn't leave. I knew that much. She'd stay around until the sun rose, but she always came back the next night. But how long until she finally left? How long until the Solstice lost its effect? A day? A week? A month? I was tired of waiting. The sooner I got this over with, the better, but I had no pleasant words to speak to her. "What do you want?"

"I want to help you."

"Interesting way of putting it."

"I tried to warn you."

"So that's what this is about? Here to brag to my face? That you were right? That I should have left the Fire Nation? Is that what you want? For me to ay that the all-powerful spirit was right? Well congradu-fucking-lations. I'm here now, aren't I? You win. I left."

"That is not why I am here. I said you were in danger in the Fire Nation. At a risk of death."

"I'm at a risk of death wherever the hell I go."

"It is not that death I speak of. I saw what has happened to you over these last years. Things no child your age should ever have witnessed. I warned of the things that would pass should you decide to stay on your path, yet I cannot control the wills of man, I can only try to help."

"Well. That's great. A little less vague would have been nice. Or, oh, I don't know, tell me that my General was going to try to lead me to an early grave, that I would see thousands of men die around me over the course of a single hour, that I would see the head of my best friend atop a pike, or, oh, I don't fucking know, that maybe I **shouldn't **kill an entire town of men, women, and children. Because guess what? Saying "Leave the Fire Nation if you hope to live," isn't really damn helpful!"

"I cannot tell you what the future entails. I can only warn you of where your life may head."

"Bullshit. What kind of bullshit spirit-world law is this? You can only warn me in the vaguest ways possible? You can't actually help me, but only say enough to say 'I told you so' once it's said and done? You said nothing to me to help me. You warned me my life would be in danger, but I'd been living, with my life in danger, since I've been born. I broke into homes, stole, deceived, and killed all before you decided to talk to me for the first-time last year. Did it ever occur to you that I didn't give two shits about my life at that point? I'd seen worse, lived through worse. You told me my life would be in danger, but that doesn't exactly help anyone now does it, but what you** failed **to tell me, was about every damned person around me. It seems like if there's anyone you should have warned me about, it was those assholes. Gan. Gi Gu. Danev. Lu Ten. All better people than me, but for some reason I end up living. You missed that part it seems. You also missed the part about the people I'd kill. Where was that warning? How do you like your-. How did you put it? Your 'closest thing you have to the Avatar' now? I killed soldiers, sure, whatever, I've read about the spirits. You did that all the time back in the day and seem to keep a strikingly keen eye over the conflicts on this Earth, like it's all some kind of sick game to you, but I also killed men, women, children. I looked into their eyes and I burned them alive. Quite the Avatar, huh?! Wow. There goes your fucking investment! Why can't you just leave me alone?! What do I have that you could still possibly want from me? What fucking half-assed advice do you insist on forcing upon me now? Want to tell me some more about the people who are going to die around me? Those fateful three? Well fuck you. I'm done."

"I told you a year ago that if you lived to the next solstice, I would come, and we would talk."

"Yeah, well I talked. So say whatever you have to say and be done it. I'm done talking, and I'm done listening."

"You aren't done listening."

"I am."

"No. You know just as well as I do that you want to what I have to say, that what you desire more than anything to is to know what awaits you."

"Like you'll answer that," I scoffed. "Yes. I want to know what's going to happen to me, but I know better now than to expect actual answers from you. I'm done. Done with your bullshit."

There was a silence. Enough of one to make me believe she had actually left, until she said, "I am sorry for what happened to you at Ba Sing Se. Nobody deserves to see what you have seen. I've served nearly a thousand Avatars, most of them in times of peace and relative stability. Only a few have witnessed horrors equal or greater than what you have. I am sorry if I have been able to help you, but I did not lie to you when I said you are currently our greatest hope, and I am here to help you. Is there anything I can do?"

I didn't believe a word she said. And I was done with her. "Yes. You can let me sleep."

She left, and I only received half of my wish. I slept, but I still awoke up the following morning.

_Sorry for the short Chapter. Despite the abundance of free time on my hand, I've been having trouble getting in the proper spirit to right. This story is by no means dead, but chapters may come less frequently and be of varying lengths from either a short 1,000-word sch as this to a 14,000-word short story such as a few weeks ago. Sorry for the inconsistency, and I'll hope to provide some real content soon. Sorry again and stay safe everyone._


	12. Chapter 9: The Mysteries of Jianghe

**Boss**

The gulls we saw that morning told us enough. Land. Finally. There was something interesting about waking up one night in the middle of an empty sea and rising the next with an entire landmass now sitting on the horizon, as though it were the land moving and not us, but of course, that was fantasy talking. The Jianghe archipelago, a series of islands in the Nagar Sea of decreasing size the further they extended from the Earth Kingdom mainland, civilization only existing in truth on the biggest of the 4 islands. It was unlikely we'd find the bulk of the conflict here, but if anything, it was high time we disembarked. It didn't take a psychic to see that my men were done with the sea. At least for the time being.

We docked in the town at around 9 in the morning. I was thankful I remembered enough about this island from my raiding days to know where to dock on the island's southern side, the fortress Jianghezhen facing east, towards the mainland, and potential danger. The ease of our docking without being fired upon was enough assurance that the island was in Fire Nation hands as of this moment. It was easy to tell there wasn't too much of an iron grip on this region. Being on the coast, it made sense they would have been one of the first territories taken by the Fire Nation when the war began. They were assimilated to their occupiers. We wouldn't be given any strange looks.

The plan was simple enough. We'd stay in town for the next few days, let ourselves rest back on dry land, and, most of all, see if we could find some work. We had materiel, compliments to our kind hosts of Whale tail island, but it would only last so long. We needed a constant stream of income, and besides, our goal is to fight this war for those who can't fight it themselves. How can we expect to do that if we don't go job-hunting?

It was easy enough to bring the ship in with Gordez's management and the help of the rest of the crew. Luke, silent as ever, made his way around the ship. After this much time, I had been hoping that he'd start talking often enough to hold a conversation, but that hadn't been the case. Ka'lira claims she had heard screaming and yelling from his room one night, even talking as though there was somebody else, but she chose not to check it out. Didn't blame her. I'd heard Luke at sleep before, back before the Patriot. The nightmares never seemed to stop for him. I pitied him. He'd been in the army for almost a year, but I guess at his age, the stuff you see just doesn't pass as quickly as it does foe the rest of us.

But I understood him too. More than he probably knew. I still remember my first months with the raiders. I was 15. My initiation was to torture a water tribe villager until she gave up the location of which villages still housed benders.

Naturally, of course, I had no experience in that regard. I didn't know the ways of the inquisitors the Fire Lord kept hidden away. It took me 3 weeks to break her. I tried everything I could while my crew watched on and laughed, waiting for me to figure out the secret in breaking the will of another human being. I started as I thought they'd want me to start. I thought I could get it done all in the same day and be done with it, my initiation over, and the struggle over with. I hit her, electrocuted her, beat her, humiliated her. She held out. A few days passed going nowhere. She was so adamant that she knew nothing, so I tried more. I tortured her. Waterboarding, more electrocution, humiliation to break her will all the quicker, but she persisted. And so did I. We both had things on the line. The way initiation worked in the Southern Raiders; you weren't a raider until you passed. For all intents and purposes, you were a prisoner. You slept in a steel cell, they hardly fed you, gave you a cup of water every few days, through a cup through the grates so you couldn't ration it. As the days passed, I wondered how I was any different from her. We were both prisoners to the same people, facing the same treatment, but the only difference was, I had hope of a way out. And that hope was by breaking her. I didn't do what I did because it was part of the job. I did what I did because I didn't want to be the one to suffer any longer. Only by inflicting that suffering upon her could I be free. So for 2 weeks I did everything I could to break her. I beat her, humiliated her, I…I did things I don't want to think about. Things I know will send me straight to hell once my life comes to an end.

Then near the beginning of the third week, I broke down in front of her. I sobbed, cried, with nobody there to watch. The entertainment of watching a 15-year-old try to torture a defenseless woman only provided them with enough entertainment for the first few hours of the first day. I let everything out in front of her. I couldn't bear to touch her again. And that, funny enough, was what did it. She told me everything. Because she couldn't bear to watch a child my age endure this any longer. She gave me what I needed, because she was the only person on that ship that cared for me. That didn't stop my captain from making me look her in the eyes as they forced me to have my way with her, followed by the rest of the crew, and, eventually, kill her. They told me afterwards that one can only do what has to be done when their own life and well-being is at stake. They taught me their lesson, but I knew it was bullshit. And they knew it too. Later that evening, as the crew got drunk, me among them, perhaps most of all to cast aside the memories, but to no avail, I overheard their talk. They knew where the waterbender were. They just wanted me to have my first kill. That was their initiation. No lesson. No moral. Just so I would become like them.

In the first month with the Southern Raiders, I already knew I had to get out as quickly as I could, but bureaucracy didn't work that way. I stuck around with them for 2 years, killing civilians belonging to all sides of this war in the name of "the war-effort." They didn't believe in the war. They believed in the bloodlust, not even the loot. They believed in the warmth of human blood against their skin amidst the frost of a winter night in the south pole, the steam it made when it melted the snow beneath their feet, and the warm embrace of an unwilling participant as they made the world around them their slaves, taking what and who they wanted.

The violence was the easy part. Easy to blur after what I'd already done. We went from tribe to tribe, over, and over, and over again, taking a few, running, coming back, taking a few more, and running away again. We were cowards. We'd come to fight, all full of energy, until the tide turn, then we'd run with what spoils we could, and return again after we deceived ourselves into thinking the outcome would be any better. And eventually, after months of continuous raids, we would eventually succeed, and we'd celebrate as though we were the superior fighters, despite the fact that it was the Water Tribals, living in a winter wasteland, no natural resources, just their own will, that turned us back time and time again. But I watched as the violence unfolded around me and did my fair share.

The hard part, however, was what happened outside of the violence, what happened in my head. For those 2 years in service, I saw her every night as I tried to sleep. I was her as she was before the torture began, the bruises, scratches, tissue damage, exhaustion, all these things gradually appearing over time as I watched myself beat her senselessly, the monster of my own nightmares.

Then, at the end of those 2 years, General Iroh, the Dragon of the West, laid siege to the Earth Kingdom capitol of Ba Sing Se and put the call out to any enlisted or unenlisted men willing to join his great crusade. I think I may have been the first to ever sign up. I was done with the raiders. And so, the nightmares finally stopped, the same night I saw the walls of Ba Sing Se for the first time, after what was possibly my first real battle when the Earth Kingdom garrison left their walls to face Iroh's host. It was a true battle. A true war. Iroh turned them back, running to their city. He accepted their general's surrender, tended to the injured, ours and theirs, provided housing and hospitality for the prisoners, and showed me what being a soldier meant. Because the men I had served beside for those 2 years. They weren't soldiers. They were uniformed savages. Even today, I was ashamed to fly their banners, even if it was only to spare ourselves, but a part of me hoped that this beacon would draw the right kind of attention. Not from the Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation, but from the band of murderous pillagers who called themselves soldiers. I was hoping that, as time went by, we'd find more and more of them, because I had a score to settle.

It was unlikely we'd find any here but killing them was only a half of my intention. For too long, I'd been on the wrong side of this war. Not the Fire Nation, but the side of the wicked, of those who exploited war for their own gain and bloodlust. Men like this existed on all sides of this war, and I was done serving with them, but I still had a debt to pay, one to pay to the other side-those who couldn't protect themselves. We needed money to live, but that was only part of why I was doing what I was doing. I, as well as my crew, all had our histories, and we all defected for similar reasons, to make amends. And so that would start here. So we disembarked and went our own separate ways to find however we could lend a hand and earn our keep. I like to think that that day marked the first real day of our little band of mercenaries.

**Jadoh**

"Just please," he finished. "Don't be stupid and find us some work. I'm looking at you, Jadoh." _Did he have to call me out? _I didn't make an overt effort to acknowledge him. I quit while I was ahead, or rather, before I was too hard behind and accepted the criticism. On the one hand, he wasn't wrong. I did quite make an ass of myself on Whale Tail, but that wouldn't be the case this time.

Gordez, as per what I was beginning to see was the norm with him, stayed on the ship. A normal person would call his behavior, never stepping on dry land, to be something of insanity, and lucky for me, I was a normal person, at least when put side by side with Gordez, and so, I didn't hesitate to label him as insane in my mind. The man never left _The Patriot. _Hell, he barely left the engine room as it was. He lived down there. He was the only one with a room outside of the superstructure in the dark bowels of the vessel.

It was strange to say the least, but as he went about his business, or lack thereof, the rest of our mercenary band, whatever our name was, _The Patriots? _Went about finding whatever work we could in this town. Zek and Ka'lira to the market, probably doing some shopping with whatever money Boss gave them Luke to the smithy, probably buying some weapon or some shit to give him his sick kicks, whatever the hell that little sadist wanted, with the money Boss gave him, and me, to the tavern. I saw now that it may have been perfectly applicable to apply the same distrust for me, after what was an unfortunate, but secluded incident on Whale Tail. I tried telling Boss as much, but the stubborn bastard wouldn't believe me. After just one slip up! Didn't even give me any spending money around town. Hell, a few coppers would've done just fine. Especially if he wanted me to be getting information. Information costs money, I tried to tell him. Well. It was fine. I had other ways of making the cash I needed. I could handle myself. And when I came back to Boss with our next contract, maybe they'd stop snickering behind my back, still cracking quips about my performance at Whale Tail. By Raava! Would they ever let it go!?

It was around noon when I slipped into the tavern. It was rather full to say the least, and my presence caught a few eyes. Odd. Never got these looks in Earth Kingdom taverns. No matter. Just had to find a gambling table. There were always loose coppers lying around that big winners didn't care to pick up. I'd buy my way in and win high enough to at least get some information. And of course, I'd have to blend in. 1 or 2 drinks would be enough. Maybe 3. Nothing strong, though. Just enough to help me blend in.

It was easy enough to find the gambling table. Dice. Perfect. Never had a problem with luck at dice. It wasn't exactly the hardest to win. 2 dice were thrown. You only won if both dice favored you. So the house had the same chance of success as the gambler. I liked that. Even footing.

So, the day came off to an easy enough start as I managed to nab a particularly convenient copper piece lying on the ground, a few rolls away from the chair that now sat empty as its previous occupant made off, well off enough to ignore the missing copper piece. The house, however, didn't seem particularly perturbed. Judging by his look, he was either expecting a repeat customer out of his last gamble, and an eventual payday, or he had already made enough so far so as not to be dissuaded by one lost bet. Both the former and the latter were equally viable options at the moment. I checked out the menu above the bar to see just how much exactly I would need for a few drinks. One beer was around 5 coppers. Not bad. I could work up to that so long as I didn't let myself lose my first copper in a matter of seconds. Make it 2 to 3 drinks, 15 coppers, and for some good information, a nice silver. I could work this out. Back home, dice was my game. Why would it be any different here?

So I approached the wooden table, pulling back the chair, scraping it along the floor, attracting the eye of the dealer who, well, judging by his look, was not quite thrilled by my appearance.

"Get out of here, kid. I'm waiting for real player."

_Kid? _I was fourteen. Hadn't been called a kid in quite a while. I was likely the oldest in my town who could still walk on both legs without throwing my back. "I'm a real player."

"Really now? How much?"

_Fuck me. The literal lowest amount of currency in this entire economy. _"A copper piece?"

"Fuck off, kid. I'm busy."

"Oh come on! Everybody else here is either getting drunk down here or getting laid upstairs. Just let me deal in so we can both do something while we're not doing anything else."

He looked at the door to the tavern. Still closed, no shadow beneath, a door that'd be closed for perhaps a bit longer.

"Fuck it," he said. "Fine. Deal in. let's get this over with."

I put down my piece. 1 copper. If I lost here, I was out. He put down a piece of his own. I called my bet. One cross one circle. He rolled the dice. 4-sided, 2 sides marked with crosses, or Xs, the other two with circles. He rolled, calling dual crosses. The result was dual circles. No winner. I kept my call, he kept his. He rolled. One cross one circle. I took his piece. He took another peek at the door, hoping for some saving grace to walk in and relieve him of this low-stakes game. I put down my bet. Only one piece. The idea was to not come out broke. If betting less than desired was the way to do so, then so be it. I bet one piece. I learned one thing betting back home, and that was never to go all in. Just made it easier to lose everything you had on you for the slight chance of a bigger return. There was no such thing as a sure bet. If there was one thing I learned back home while my friends were off fighting a war, stuck with old geezers, it was gambling. Fishing and gambling.

I bet my piece, after a while, won again. Bet 2 pieces next. Won. Then 3. Lost. Back down to 2 pieces. Bet and won. Bet 2 pieces again. Up to 5 pieces. Bet 4 this time. I felt more confident. Won. Up to 9. Bet 6. Took 4 rolls to reach a conclusion. Won. Up to 15. Bet 10. Lost. Down to 5. Went in with 4. Won. Up to 9. Bet 6 again. Won. Back to 15. He was no longer looking at the door. I bet 10 one last time, he put his equivalent down. A silver. We rolled 7 times. And now stakes were involved. He was no longer looking over my shoulder towards the door. He was in this game. And on the seventh role, the first cross appeared. And I waited for the second I had bet on. It rolled, rolled, and rolled, off the table, landed. And our eyes met for a split second before we rushed to find the game-determining sign. Would it be a circle in his favor, or a cross in mine. So when I saw those 2 beautiful perpendicular lines, coming together in a satisfying 90-degree angle, pointing in all cardinal directions on a map, I knew I was out. I grabbed my winnings, a happy man. It was my day today. Lady luck chose her side.

So I sat at the counter. And I waited. The tender saw me, shook his head, and passed. _Busy with another customer, _I told myself. So he kept on passing me by, but still, I waited. I waited until his patrons were dormant, and he leaned against the counter, idle, polishing glasses, completely ignoring the man, a willing customer, waiting patiently, perhaps too patiently.

"Umm. Excuse me?"

He looked up right after polishing his latest glass, catching my gaze. "Yes?"

"A drink? Please?"

He looked at me. "You don't look eighteen, kid."

_Eighteen. Are you fucking kidding me? _"Is that a problem?"

"Sorry. Don't serve kids."

"A kid? I'm 14. People younger than me are fighting the war right now. I'm not a kid."

"Law says otherwise, kid."

"I'm not a kid, and what fucking laws? Earth Kingdom doesn't give a shit about age. And certainly not for something as petty as booze."

"Not in the Earth Kingdom, kid. See those banners as you came into town? Fire Nation occupation zone, Fire Nation town, Fire Nation laws. And by these laws, you're a kid. So what do you want, a leaf tea?"

It wasn't hard to notice the laughter of the man I had been gambling with only moment ago as he now took my humiliation and treatment as a fair enough trade for the 15 coppers and one silver he lost. He walked up to the counter, chuckling to himself quietly as he put down 5 coppers, and was just as swiftly slid a nice and ready cup of ale. As he left to return to his own seat, he turned to me, smiled, saying "Tough luck."

I turned back to the barkeep. "No. Fuck that. I want information. What can a silver buy me?"

"Information. What do you want to know? When the Ember Island Players come to town so you can get off to the actresses from the back row?"

That spurred another wave of laughter from the gambler in the back. I turned back. "Enjoying yourself, dickhead?"

"Hey, kid. Just enjoying the show. Don't mind me."

I shook my head and turned back to the barkeep. I was through with this. "Alright Thanks, asshole. Fuck you," I turned back to the gambler. "And fuck you too."

_Fire Nation laws my ass. Didn't give a shit about these laws in Whale Tail. _I got up from where I was seated at the counter, making my way out the door when a group of 4 men in tattered rags walked in, some bearing weapons, all of them covered in mud, and some in dry blood. Form what I saw, some belonging to them, and some not. _This could be interesting. _So I didn't leave just yet. I took a seat.

"Hey, kid! Cried the gambler. You ain't leaving, you little shit?"

I turned and said, "Shut the fuck up."

That silenced him for a moment. The 4 men sat at the counter and were ordering drinks, which they were all given in turn. I was done sulking over the lost refreshment. I was listening now.

"Hey!" called the gambler. "You men look pretty worse for wear. Nothing like some good easy money to raise your spirits!"

The 4 men turned to him in a synchronized gaze of both weariness, but enough stored anger to surpass that exhaustion and put the man in his place. He noticed this easily enough, and silence ensued. The bartender saw enough to not antagonize either, and went about his work, only interacting with his newest patrons to slide them a refill or a stronger drink.

It was only after a few minutes of hard drinking that the first of their voices in the dead-silent tavern spoke up. "What are we going to tell the Boss?"

"We'll tell him what happened. Mercenaries. Probably Earth Kingdom, or hell, some rival Fire Nation commander. You know how it is with them."

"We won't tell him what we think," said a third. "We'll tell him only what we know. We got ambushed. Caravan got robbed. Caravanners all killed."

"Yeah, but we lived," said the first. "Doesn't exactly make us the best hired guards if we're the only ones that lived."

"We'll worry about that tomorrow," said the second, likely the leader of them, while the 4th drank himself into a deep slumber. "We're alive. Probably won't get hired on this island again any time soon, but we lived. We'll find work somewhere else."

"Hell," said the 1st. We already got kicked out of Chin. Chin for crying out loud with that band of idiots."

"Doesn't matter. We'll head for the fortress tomorrow. Tell the commander what happened."

"But the caravan is still out there. We don't know if they're alive or dead."

"You heard the screams," said the third, speaking up again. "They have to be dead."

"But what if they're not? I mean. What if they're being held somewhere?"

"Then for all intents and purposes, they're dead. Look, Kiff. Mercenaries don't like caring for prisoners. Dead weight and drain on resources. Even if they survived the initial fight, they won't last long."

"And the caravan's supplies?"

"Theirs now, wherever the hell they are. But it's not our problem. Not anymore. If it's anyone's problem now, it's Zehehe's. Hopefully the Jianghezhen fortress will send word by raven. They should know they're not getting their shipment."

_And there it was. A job. _I smiled. That would show, Boss. That would show them. We had work. And unlike this crew, we would get results, and we would get paid.

**Zek**

"So how do you guys normally go about looking for work?" Ka'lira asked as we sat at a small table in a corner side shop near the center of the town market.

"Well," I said. "Being honest. This is really the first time we've done it this way. Before, we'd just happen to be in the right place at the right time. Now, well, just gotta figure it out as we go."

"So what are we listening for?"

"Anything that sounds like there's people who could use help."

"Lots of people here could use help. I mean, we talked to that one guy who had trouble taming horses."

"Yeah, but, that's different kind of work."

"You mean honest work."

"Precisely. And we're about the farthest things from that. So for now, let's listen for the kind of work that involves us getting our hands dirty. That's where the money is."

"How would you know where the money is? Didn't you just say you're all new to this."

"Where I **think **the money is. All honesty, I'd much rather still be in the army. Pay was stable there at least, but being honest, it's nice to know I'm not at risk of transferring over to a guy I absolutely hate who'll put me in front of civies and tell me to 'get the job done'"

"You have a commander like that before?"

"Yeah. In Ba Sing Se for a small while. Being in armored, I was part of a screening force sent to clear the grounds for our camp. We came by a few towns and our commander just told us to steamroll right through them. Not necessarily targeting civilians, but to force everybody else, and kill those who resisted. It didn't last long though. General Iroh-"

"The Dragon of the West?"

"Yeah. Him. He found the officer who gave the order to do so, my commander, and relieved him of duty, sending him back to the Fire Nation for trial."

"So you had some good commanders too."

"Yeah. Plenty. They showed me what it was to be a good soldier and a good man. But it's nice having Boss in charge. I know he's somebody I can trust, somebody I don't have to worry about being transferred, court-martialed, anything like that."

"But being killed-"

"Well yeah. Obviously, but that's always been the case. Nothing new there. At least now I can cut out the military bureaucracy bullshit."

At around that time, the waiter passed by, and, upon noticing our empty cups, asked, "Would you like something more?"

I turned to Ka'lira. "Want anything?"

"You have tapioca tea?"

"We can have it out right away. And you, sir?"

"Nothing for me. Thanks." He left, and I turned to Ka'lira. "Tapioca tea? Are you kidding me? Really?"

"What?" she asked, a grin coming to her face.

"That's shit's disgusting. How could you like that monstrosity of a tea?"

"It's really not that bad. You ever try it?"

"Well how else would I know it's disgusting? Tapioca balls with milk in a tea? What about that sounds good?"

"It's not a bad taste. Where did you have yours?"

"At Baijaju. In the Muli province"

"Never heard of it. You probably just had a bad maker."

I put on my best face of bemused suspicion at her comment, obviously with the intent to spark a comedic reaction. "Yeah. Sure. If you say so."

She smiled at the face I had put on, and the two of us returned to listening around us. Frankly, there wasn't much to listen to aside from a conversation that a group of 3 younger guys, maybe in their early 20s, having a conversation two tables to our right. "No. No," said the first man. "I didn't care that she had been fucking an earthbender. I mean, that was before we met, but what pissed me off was that she refused to fuck me because, and I quote her, "she was afraid of being burnt."

"You're fucking kidding me," replied the second. "She said that?"

"Yeah!"

"And when was this?"

"Maybe a few months ago after we first met."

"So now?"

"I'm getting there. So now, it's winter, and she wants to have sex all of a sudden. She wants to sleep with me, right? So, naturally, I say, 'Fuck it. Let's do it.' And take into account, this was about mid-December. So it was fucking cold. So I take her to my place, we start getting intimate, and she finishes me off with her hands. So you know, that kinda hurt my resolve. I tried getting it back up but was too fucking tired. Anyway, I fell asleep and we didn't do anything. When the morning came, she told me she was sorry, but the heating in her place was cut off and she needed the warmth. Would you believe that shit?!"

There was a burst of laughter amongst the group while Ka'lira and I turned to each other, trying to contain our own giggles in an effort to hide the fact that we had been eavesdropping. Amid that, the eta had been brought at one point to the table.

"Was it a good handy at least?" asked the third member of their party mid-laughter.

"Oh it was great."

The conversation switched topics at one point, prompting me and Ka'lira to turn back to each other as she drank her tea. The smell alone was enough to make me gag, which it did.

"Oh please, Zek. Stop being a child."

"You kidding me? That smell. For spirits' sake. How can you drink that?"

"It smells worse than it tastes."

"That's what everyone says about anything, but it always ends up tasting like shit either way."

"Then try some, you baby. 5 coppers say that you'll end up liking it."

"Alright? 5 coppers? I'm down. Pass that shit over here."

She picked up the cup, handing it over to me. I forced myself to ignore the stench, knowing 5 copper pieces awaited me at the end of it. I took the taste. And no. I didn't come to some huge revelation. My memory did not end of being false as I was introduced to a brand-new world of tapioca tea. I spit out what little I had tasted. "Well. Somehow, it was even worse than I remember."

"Oh shut up. You're lying."

"Not lying. It's just complete shit."

"Oh fuck off. It is **not **that bad!"

"It really is! I have no idea how you can drink this garbage."

She was smiling now, no longer clearly repulsed by my insulting of her favorite beverage, instead, breaking into laughter.

"What?" I asked

Between laughs, she said, "Sorry. It's just hard to take you seriously when you have a tapioca mustache."

I quickly brought up my sleeve to wipe it off, but her laughing continued. "What?!" I asked, less annoyed, but starting to laugh with her, smiling."

"It's still there."

I wiped again, to no results apparently as Ka'lira continued to laugh over my misery and suffering until giving up, licking her napkin, reaching over to wipe it off. Naturally, I pulled back, intent on removing it myself.

"Stop squirming!" she said.

"Stop trying to clean me, woman!"

And as quickly as it had begun, the charade was ended by the sound of somebody clearing his throat to my right and her left. We looked over in unison to find Boss standing there with Jadoh and Luke. "If you're about done here, we have a job to do."

**Boss**

I had taken the details directly from Jadoh. And it sounded promising, to say the least. Convoys being robbed en route from Jiaozai to Zehehe. It was a safe bet to make that they'd be overtly appreciative of any assistance that could be given. And assuming we found this convoy, it could mean some good supplies, or if not that, good standing with this region, potentially recruits to. It had potential.

Jadoh was quite elated and proud of himself when he told me. He didn't have all of his details, of which I couldn't quite blame him. He'd obtained the details of this job from a band of weary mercenaries, more drink than talk. Then again, this was where we were right now, and as much as I wanted to temper Jadoh's self-pride, I had to admit, he did as well as could be considered. And he wasn't drunk.

It was safe enough to assume the route the convoy would take. There was only one way off of Jianghe, and that was by ferry, one we'd seen as we came in. From the ferry drop off site, from what I'd heard around here, it was a trail down south to Zehehe. Sadly for us, however, all ferries left at mid-morning and came back at around mid-afternoon. We were stuck here for now. So we took our dinners, spent our nights aboard _The Patriot, _and the morning after, we were ready. We had taken our time to study the map of the region, we were armed, armored, and ready for our payday. We stepped off of _The Patriot _and met the day ahead.

And this day ahead was one of darkness. A fog had moved in over the night, one predicted by townspeople as we passed that would last the day. It was a 20-minute walk from the town to the ferry crossing. It was empty. We were the only ones to show. So as the others, Jadoh, Luke, and Zek, got comfortable aboard the ferry, awaiting the half-hour ride ahead of them, characteristic of a more traditional steamboat. Not the worst of Fire Nation technology, but not the best either.

Ka'lira had stayed aboard _The Patriot _with Gordez, much to Zek's displeasure at first, but after I reminded him she had no real training and would be safer aboard, he conceded, and Ka'lira stayed, only met with some slight hesitance on her end, but I think even she knew that she wasn't ready for the possibilities ahead.

"You know," said the ferry's helmsman as I stood beside him, headed towards the Earth Kingdom continent. "On a clear day," he continued, "You'd be able to see the shore from Jianghe. Now, well, I can't see 10 darn yards ahead of me. The helmsman was an older man, white tangled beard, smelling of sea-salt, equipping himself in tattered rags that clearly hadn't been cleaned, or even changed out of, in the last few weeks.

"Will that be a problem?" I asked.

"Nah, shouldn't be. No rocks along this path, no obstacles. And there's always burning torches to help show the way, compliments of Zehehe. Nice people there, ya know?"

There was some silence for a while, until I asked, because I was curious by the lack of other passengers, "So. You get a lot of business?"

"Not really, no. Mostly supply convoys and trade caravans. Last group to come along were them mercenaries who came back all beat and battered, minus the caravan they came with of course. They paid me extra to bring them back right away y'know? Didn't even give me the chance to have dinner with the townspeople."

"You leave your ferry behind to eat in town?"

"Oh no no. The people in Zehehe, bless their souls, will come out and bring lunch for me. I don't pay them considering I'm pretty much the main reason there's trade between them and the Jianghe island. They're the same ones who light the torches for me. Raava bless their souls."

"You mentioned the caravan that didn't come back."

"Yea. That's why you all are here, right? Got your weapons and fancy armor and all. Here to get the pay where those other guys din't?"

"Pretty much. Yeah. But I'm curious. You know about what happened to the caravan? What it could have been that got to them?"

"Not a clue. When I asked those mercenary boys, they pretty much refused to talk."

"Probably the Earth Kingdom. Likely looking to continue their momentum before the Fire Nation onslaught gets too strong. Consolidate their power as soon as possible."

"Now I don't know what a darned cent of that meant. War's not big around here for us. Fire Nation. Earth Kingdom. Same difference. So long as trade continues and they don't stick their noses where they don't belong, we'll pay their taxes and follow their laws."

"You ever thought about independence?"

"You ever thought about getting rich? Course we 'ave! Doesn't mean it gonna happen any time soon. Besides, defending ourselves. Not our strong suit. We have Jianghezhen for that, and the governor's troops."

"The governor. What's he like?"

"Wouldn't know. All I know is that it was he who hired them mercs. Though from what I heard, if they done failed as bad as they did, they're in for some trouble once they return to ol' Yilie."

"Alright," he said, after some time had passed. "We should be getting there soon. Tell me when you see the lights from the torches. That's how you'll know we're nearly there.

So I looked. I kept my eyes geared in front of me, staring into the thick wall of gray mist ahead of me, not able to see past the shroud of the fog, looking for that single beacon that marked the shore. No light came. Rather, the shore did, all too soon. "Shore!" I yelled as quickly as I could, but it was too little too late. The anchor was dropped, the engines cut, but the slack on the anchor was enough to enable us to scrape along the sandy shore, bringing us to an abrupt halt.

By the time he was done gasping and panting over what had just occurred, he turned to me, and yelled, "I said to look out for the flames!"

"I did look out! There were none! We land in the right place?"

"Of course we did! I been doing this route for 37 years! Of course I took us to the right place!" He left the helm, walking onto the main deck now where the rest of our mercenary band was wandering the deck, some hopping onto shore where the ferry lay marooned. He looked around, now gazing towards the torches at around the same time I spotted them, unlit. "Huh," he said. "Odd. They're supposed to be lit."

"Well apparently they're not," I said, hopping off of the ship onto the shore, investigating the damage. The hull seemed to be intact, but she was stuck ashore alright. Still. He didn't look to weight too much. Maybe if all of us, no, the engine. I turned to the man who was tossing down a rope ladder for himself to climb down and asked, "You gonna need some help getting her back in the water?"

"Nah. Tide'll do that for me. Comes in at around noon. Thank you though. If I were you, I'd get about whatever y'all were doing. You seem to be a busy lot. Don't stay here on my account. Try to be back by mid-afternoon. Around 6. And that's 6 in the afternoon. I have a family to get back to, ya know.

So we left the beachhead, and off we travelled through the brush, into the jungle ahead. Despite being winter, the heat of the humidity and the equatorial region was weighing down on us. Wouldn't normally be enough to get us to break a sweat, but underneath the layers of armor and underclothing, it was quite enough to take its toll.

And beneath the thicket tens to hundreds of feet above us, it was hard to see past 10 yards on account of the darkness and the fog. All we knew was that we were heading south, compliments of a sign that pointed the direction about 15 minutes of walking ago. We prayed we were still on the right path, but frankly, that was becoming more and more iffy over time. Until it wasn't. It first came as a bright light illuminating the low clouds of the fog around us, a piercing beam of light contrasting against the darkness around us, penetrating through the thick layers of shroud. Then followed the noise, walking, multiple steps. We froze, heard, and it was clear what came next. I turned back, put my fingers to my lip, and we scattered. Zek and Jadoh fled to the left of the path while Luke and I made our way to the right.

We hid amongst the shrubbery and waited. And waited. Their feet were the first things we saw, green sandals stepping out of the fog as they made their way, 2 in the back armed with spears, two in front of them bearing the Earth Kingdom standard, and one in front, their commander, leading the way.

My gaze met Zek's as the soldiers had crossed. I could tell what he was asking. And I had to be sure he didn't go ahead with what was on his mind. I shook my head, and he understood, but when I turned to see Luke to my side, I realized it was him I was supposed to keep my eye on, flame at the ready, waiting to strike upon my go-ahead. A signal he never got, much to his apparent annoyance.

We waited until the footsteps had faded along with their image into the fog that was no becoming more of a mid-day dew rather than a morning mist as the day went by, but the layers of shroud remained thick and unrevealing in their nature. "They heading towards the beach?" Jadoh asked, apparently concerned over our ride back.

"Maybe. Maybe not. If so, we'll have to find another way back, but we have to find the convoy first, or at least try to find it."

Zek was the one to speak up now, emerging from where he had been hiding along the roadside, preparing in wait for the possible ambush. "Maybe two of us should head back to the ferry. If the Earth Kingdom's this close to the coast, there's a good chance finding other ways to get back to Jianghe will be made all the harder."

He wasn't wrong. The mere fact we saw Earth Kingdom this close and this early wasn't the best sign. _We may be in deeper shit than even we anticipated. _"Good point," I said. Head back to the ferry. Quietly. Don't be seen by the patrol."

"Got it. Me and Luke'll head back and-"

"No," I said, having already seen how close Luke had been to striking a killing blow. He needed somebody to look over him. Jadoh was too green and scared of him to do anything. Zek, well, I worried Zek might indulge him, especially if it came to Earth Kingdom personnel. I was trying to **avoid **an incident here. He needed my eyes on him. "I'll take Luke. You take Jadoh back to the ship and try to keep it hidden. If it comes to you having to defend the ferry, do it, but if contact is avoidable, avoid it."

"Yes, Boss," said Zek, ever the loyal soldier, especially to put me above his own country. "Understood."

He turned back, Jadoh in tow who, comprehending the situation, followed in Zek's footsteps back the way we had come.

Now, however, came the fun part. The convoy. Earth Kingdom this close, there was a good possibility that the convoy and the supplies had fallen into enemy possession, but we had been hired for a job. Well. Not hired per se, but there was clearly money to make in fulfilling the job that Jianghe's overseer, Yilie, had entrusted in his failed mercenaries.

The way ahead, due south, was plagued by the still thick fog, which, while it concealed our movements, did the same favor to any others who possibly wished harm upon us. We proceeded without light, not daring to give ourselves away in advance akin to how the patrol that preceded us had done. We moved, slowly, carefully, not happening upon the slightest hint of a convoy that had been attacked, no miraculous, revealing hint that pointed towards every major event that had occurred over the last day. Empty.

Empty until the woods ended, empty until, beyond the fog, we could see lights, a town we could assume, the town, Zehehe. So we looked ahead, and made our best efforts to gaze through the shroud of uncertainty that the early afternoon provided us, and what we saw ahead was not the town that had stood yesterday, but one in the midst of a war within itself, smoke rising, fires burning, shouts rising, but above it all, green banners ensigned with the standard of the Earth Kingdom. Zehehe had been lost, and the war drums could still be heard over its walls. A fight was coming.

**Zek**

It had been a quiet day, guarding the ferry. No contact. The Earth Kingdom patrol had completely skipped by the beach, totally unaware of our subversive activity on this contested coast. The sun had not yet begun to set, but it was mid-descent when Luke and Boss returned. However, they had nothing in tow. No convoy, no supplies, no survivors. Just themselves. Whatever news awaited doubtfully leaned on the positive end of things.

The two of them walked right past us as Zek announced "They took Zehehe."

None of us could have been too taken aback, too broken, we had just arrived here yesterday, but I think what it was that made it all the more serious was what it meant for us. The Earth Kingdom was on the coast, less than a mile's ride from Jianghe, where we were returning. With any luck, the Earth Kingdom would consolidate itself, but, if they truly were in as much of a rush to reclaim lost territory as it seemed, we'd be in for a fight.

"We should get back to the island as quickly as we can," he continued. "The ferry ready to go?"

"Yep!" exclaimed the helmsman, whose name we now learned to be Jungi. "Tide came in and took us back out to sea, as I knew she would."

"Good. Then let's not waste time here."

We boarded the ferry once more not with the same vigor with which we had departed, by a solemn desperation, not slow, but not fast either, yet there was haste inherent in our movements. Once we were aboard and had set out, I made it my effort to catch him amidst his antic movements and pull him aside. "Boss," I was forced to say with urgency to catch his attention amidst the anxiety in his movements. "What happened? What did you see?"

There was no hesitation in his answer. He told me what he observed as though he were a soldier once more, making a detailed report to a superior, yet now, it wasn't an act of subordination, but information, care, to keep us aware of just how things were around us. "Zehehe is in Earth Kingdom hands. It must have fallen just this morning or last night. The fires are still burning, and their drums are beating. I doubt they're done for the day. We had to get back to Jianghe and tell the overseer. If we get back in time, we can-"

Then suddenly I was on the floor, a ring playing through my ears on a single static note as I looked up at the sky, a plume of smoke billowing into the air, disappearing beyond the still heavy fog that shrouded the light of day. I rolled onto my side, to the debris that scattered the upper deck, lying still, refusing to move until a familiar hand gripped me under my arm, pulling me up unto my feet. Boss ran ahead to check on the rest as I worked on my own to secure my balance, shifting my weight from foot to foot. _Right. Left. Right. Left._ The rhythm broken by a second blast that rocked us once more but lacking the same ferocity as the first. _Are we, being shot at?_

I looked over the port side of the vessel, staring into a gray wall ahead of us. _No. They can't be shooting at us. We're as invisible as they are._

I now decided it was the time to assess myself for any damage. I looked at my hands. Clear. My legs. Clear. I was. Fine. _Am I fine? _I was fine. I relearned how to walk then, taking a few steps towards the bow of the ship. I passed by Luke on the way, who was walking as though we were sailing smooth and steady. _Were we? Is it just me? _No. No. Jadoh was on the ground, crawling up the stairs that led to the upper decks from below. _It's not just me. It's not just me. _

I found where Boss was now, at the helm of the ship, questioning, no, I could hear him, he was loud, yelling at the helmsman, yelling at Jungi. I could finally make out the words. "Do you have any lifeboats?" And I could hear the old man too, who was yelling not out of anger nor frustration, but seemingly to hear himself over the ringing in his ears that was all too similar to the sensation I felt myself.

"We don't need lifeboats! I can get us back!"

As though in rebuttal of his assertion, a third explosion rocked off the starboard side, sending a wave of water underneath us, carrying us about 10 feet into the air before dropping us back to sea level as we still rode the ripples from the explosive after current. "Your ship won't make it back! The entire channel is mined!"

"I can get us through!" I could feel the engines spur to life beneath me, until dying with a loud racket just prior to the detonation of a 4th explosion only a few yards off of our bow.

"This ferry is too big, too slow, and made of metal. These mines will tear you to shreds. I'll ask again. Do you have any lifeboats?"

Jungi looked around at his vessel now, or rather, what was left of it, as small fires now began to burn across the wooden deck, the deck in shatters, the metalworking torn, the mast already cracking, ready to fall. The ruin of his livelihood was apparent around him, and he realized as such. "If it's not destroyed," he started. "It's in the stern."

Upon hearing, Boss signaled for Luke to head to the stern, which he did, seeking to check for its status, and prepare it to get us out of here and back to Jianghe. Then, the moment came to me in full. My sight returned to normal, the ringing ceased, and I was awake. I saw where Jadoh was, still crawling up the stairs. As Boss urged Jungi to follow him to the stern, damning all sentiment of a captain's fate and while Luke struggled to offload the lifeboat, I helped Jadoh onto his feet, practically dragging him to the stern.

With our efforts combined, we thankfully managed to get the lifeboat on the water, somehow undamaged and still intact. It just barely held the 5 of us, yet, at that point in time, we took whatever we could. And so, in the midst of the ticking time bomb around us, we set away, abandoning the ferry in the distance, the fog enveloping in this distance, yet one final burst of light from its direction told me, that if we had overstayed our welcome any longer than we had, our lives would have come to quick and sudden ends. And I couldn't have that. There was somebody waiting for me back in Jianghe.


	13. Chapter 10: The Calm Before

**Boss**

It was still a miracle to me how we managed to make it to Jianghe's shore alive, but as the wooden shards of the skiff knocked against the island's coast, the tide of the sea skewering the sand with the debris that we would have been among had we left moments later, and as my feet touched the ground, the sand clinging to the water that still left me soaked after the day's affairs, I realized that we had made it.

And so, as the others went on their way, Zek being met by Ka'lira's embrace, her already waiting on the shore for his return, as Jadoh reluctantly helped the old ex-ship captain out of the remnants of his legacy, and as Luke, in his usual self, stalked off to the shore to gaze out into the sea, likely scanning for the wreckage we left behind, I was met by the combined force of town guardsmen, and the governor's troops, assembling on the shore in response to the commotion.

The town's guardsmen were swept aside, a mere afterthought, as the soldiers bearing the governor's mark pushed their way up to me, immediately pointing me out as the semblance of leadership among these marooned mercenaries. _It was supposed to be a small, quiet job. Find the caravan, possibly save it, report it, get a small pay._ Yet here we were, trapped on an island by an invisible blockade. War's the same as it ever was, but we keep on finding new ways to fight it.

The soldiers had now reach where I stood, and their supposed commander, distinguished by his pauldron, walked up to the point of standing a mere half foot in front of me, asking, "Take your men and follow me. The governor wants to see you."

We were trapped on this island. We were mercenaries. Both sides wanted to use us. Both sides would likely feel better if we were dead. Our life was determined by our use to others, and right now, that use was in demand.

So we followed.

It was a slow work to Jianghezhen, the island's fortress, sitting on its northern shore. Despite its barren port, the only Fire Nation-built vessel on the island being our own, the castle stood formidable, a stone aegis keeping the island in check just as much as it was guarding it from outside threats.

The way to the castle was anything but direct, the last landmark above the surface being 4 hanging carcasses, which Jadoh promptly pointed out to be the failed mercenaries who had gained his tip about our most recent job from. As we walked along the cliffside, the open ocean to our right, we were guided into fortified trenches and bunkers beneath the surface along the cliffside, arrows slits, murder holes, openings for artillery batteries, all of these lining the emplacements. Soldiers were rushing through them, pushing their ways past us as we were guided along through a series of twists and turns, down one set of stairs and up another to the extent that we only realized we were within the actual castle once we were quite actually standing in front of the governor's office.

"Yilie will see you now," spoke the soldier who had guarded us this far.

He opened the door for us, and in the room were 4 figures. At both ends of the doors were Fire Nation guardsmen, statues in their own right, unflinching, guarding the other two in the room, one of which was the island's governor, Yilie, a bald man bearing stark sideburns and a pronounced brown 'stache, the appearance one would expect from a man of his stature. However, the figure in the room that surprised me more was the one sitting across from him, Gordez.

"Gordez?" I asked, entering the room as the door was shut behind me, cutting me off from the rest of my band.

"Hey, Boss," spoke Gordez, meekly, but clearly alive and unhurt.

"Boss, is it?" asked Yilie. "Please," he said. "Take a seat." He motioned to an empty seat beside Gordez which I promptly took. "I hope you don't mind," he continued, "but I took the liberty of having my men search your ship after you left the island. An unmarked Fire Nation vessel with a skeleton crew coming into my dock, laden with military gear, without my approval? I think it's only fair that I take some precautionary measures. And, don't worry, nothing was stolen. I made special care to ensure my men were on their best behavior."

I did understand. Quite well actually. I would've done the same in his position, but all the same, I wasn't fond of having my ship's integrity compromised in such a way, and I didn't plan on making it come off otherwise. "Not sure how I like the idea of your men going through my stuff."

"Oh you misunderstand us. We were just checking your ship for the usual: possible stowaways, saboteurs, bombs, you name it. We had no interest in your personal belongings. And I hope you don't mind me allowing your second to sit in on this meeting. We were having quite the lovely conversation before you came in."

"Well you seem to already have a good understanding of who we are then. So tell me, what do you want from us?"

"Your mercenaries and you're stuck on an island being besieged. I think it's quite clear what I want. I think it's also quite clear what you want."

"What we'd really want is to get out of here before the shooting starts, but"

"But the island is already blockaded by an invisible fleet. So you're stuck here, but really? Is getting off what you really want?"

I wasn't entirely sure what he meant, but he wasted no time in making it clear. "I've heard enough out of your second-in-command to know what your company is about. Protecting those unable to protect themselves, is it not?" Well. There are 3,927 inhabitants on this island, and only 117 soldiers to guard them. When the Earth Kingdom lands on these shores, my soldiers will ingrain themselves in the village and fight a guerilla war. These aren't their wishes, but they're my orders. The Earth Kingdom will have to kill every last man, woman, and child to root us out of this island. I care about these people, but I care about my Nation more, and I will not surrender a single inch of my land to the enemy. If you want to help me avoid this ultimatum, this horrific ending that is in store, you'll help me repel the enemy. In addition to that, you will be compensated."

"Like the mercenaries we saw dangling outside the castle walls?"

"Those men were a liability and I had no duty to them. Their loyalties were as loose as their tongues and they were a potential threat that had to be dealt with."

"And how do I know the same won't come of us? How do I know it won't be the bodies of my men hanging from those posts next?"

"I already know where your loyalties lie. You like to claim to be a neutral party, but we all know your sympathies still lie with your home. The only case-scenario where your corpses will hang from that wall is if it's below an Earth Kingdom banner. So do we have a deal?" He extended his arm. There was no other choice. He was right. About everything he had said. He was a smart man, and there was no other way we were going to make it through this. I took his arm, and we shook. We were in this fight now, whether we liked it or not.

**Zek**

It wasn't long before the door to the governor's door opened to reveal the newly formed trio of Yilie, Boss, and…Gordez? _What the hell was he doing here? We didn't see him enter. _I opened my mouth to speak in a quest to ask for some form of clarity but was cut off by Boss's answer to the first question we all had, being, "The governor invited him here before us." And promptly proceeded to answer the second question we all had, the one that clearly would come to have a far more lasting impact on our survival on this island. "And yes," he began. "We're going to fight."

The war room was a stone chamber deep within the halls of the castle, more likely than not carved out of the mountain itself rather than built from the ground up. In front of us, a map was placed on a large table, providing a bird's eye view of the island, ranging from the town on the southern end of the island, and the cliffside fortress in the north where we all found ourselves now. The governor, Yilie, wasted no time with pleasantries, but grabbed the bag of wood-carved pieces that his squire held out to him, reaching inside, and fumbling until he found the piece resembling that which he was looking for.

With a loud _thunk_ originating from his haste to get straight to the presentation he had in store, he placed down a wooden piece resembling an Earth Kingdom warship, followed by another, then another, and another. "We are surrounded," he began, placing the warships all around the island at the edges of the map. "There will be no way off for us as we will be trapped here, forced to defend it however we can. There are two possibilities for how the Earth Kingdom plans to take our fortress: by land or by sea. If by sea," he said, moving the warships to the northern side of the island, "they will likely attempt to bring down this fortress first, suing artillery to soften our defenses before moving in to allow their earthbenders to quite literally bury us alive in our own castle. If they do so, on any normal occasion, they would have a hard time doing so as our naval batteries are too strong for their iron-clad warships, however, it just so happens that our defenses are quite lacking. We are only in possession of a few catapults and one artillery battery. Assuming they know this, they won't have to caution themselves when taking the fortress, but could simply rush in. If they're unaware of this however, they may attempt to keep their distance, which would be good for us. The more time they spend away from our shores, the more time we can spend blasting them out of the ocean. However, once they wisen up and realize just how defenseless we are, there'll be no stopping them from rushing in for the kill. The other way is that they will attempt to take this island from the land," he continued, moving the pieces to the southern end of the island. "In this case, they'll storm the beaches by the town. If they do so, I **will **order my men to embed in the town to soften up as many men as they can. Civilians **will **die, so it's in your best interest to stop them from landing. If we see them coming ahead of time, I can order my artillery to set up by the beach, but if they have as many ships as I believe, it won't stop them. Innocents **will **die."

"Then we'll just have to stop them from landing" Boss said, "But all of this is assuming they chose one side or another. What's to stop them from splitting up into two task forces?" he asked, moving half of the ships to the island's northern shore. "This way, they'd divide our attention."

"And their own forces. With any luck, and with my efforts, no information about the state of our defenses has made its way off this island. I've done some unpleasant things to do so, such as with those mercenaries, but it had to be done. I want to believe that the Earth Kingdom will overestimate our capability to fight and allocate all resources to a given front. While, of course, that would make our job that much more overwhelming, I'd much rather take on a massive army to my face instead of having to worry about a smaller army behind my back."

I was looking at the map now. Even as wooden pieces, it already seemed as though those warships were only inches away from demolishing this entire island, and us with it. I pitied Ka'lira more than anyone. She'd been with us for what? Just a few weeks, and she was already finding herself in the middle of a war she hadn't signed up for. And that was just the half of it. Nothing made sense anymore. Why was it, that now, after having defected from the Fire Nation army, we were doing more fighting, working closer to Fire Nation high command, than we'd ever done as enlisted men? I shot back to reality, and a just as cold reality it was. More pieces had been placed on the table now, representing ground forces, both ours and theirs, alongside pieces representing artillery batteries and even a tank, _I guess we told them about Shanzi. _"If, however, their forces are divided," Yilie conditioned, "I'm sorry, but I'd have to give up the town. I cannot let this fortress fall."

"Then let's pray they give us a straight fight."

"Agreed," Yilie concluded, rising from his table, "I'll begin organizing my men, loading the artillery, and-"

At that moment, a soldier ran into the room, a slip of paper in hand, rushing past the guards at the table straight to the island's governor who stared the man down for interrupting him before taking the slip and unfolding it to reveal the message within as the soldier said, "A messenger hawk came in, sir. Earth Kingdom."

Governor Yilie read through the paper, looked at the table, read it again, and let the paper drop. He brought his arms atop the map, wiping off every piece from the table, catching one last Earth Kingdom warship before it fell to the ground. He placed it down at the northern end of the island with such certainty that one might think the paper read the future. Perhaps, in a way, it did, and Yilie was done keeping us in the dark. He had already memorized the contents of the message, and so he read from his memory, "Governor Yilie of the island of Jianghe. Your island has been besieged by Earth Kingdom forces under Captain Fong. Surrender your island to our custody, alongside you, your family, and your forces, and your citizens will be granted amnesty by the Earth King. Refuse, and your island will face the full force of the Earth Kingdom." He was done reciting now, and so, he turned to us, saying, "The message is from Captain Fong. **Captain **Fong. I know this man and I know his rank. He only has one ship under his command, 'The Iron Ram'. I know the man too. A glory-hound. There's no glory in wasting time with civilians before the real fight. He's going to take us head on, try to overpower the fortress itself."

"A stupid plan"

"But his plan all the same. It's a powerful warship, his. Won't go down without a fight. Heavily armed and armored. Forget what I said about caution, he'll try to get as close as possible more likely than not, take this fortress on hand-to-hand. He's a good bender. It'll be a tough fight."

"If we don't take down his ship first. That should be our first priority. We can take _The Patriot_ out to try to slow them down or even bring them down. We've survived an encounter with the Earth Kingdom navy before. We can prob-"

"No. Gordez interrupted. "Probably not. We barely survived then and even now we have no weaponry. And I wouldn't try another hattrick like trying to board them. If what Yilie said about Fong is true, these are seasoned men. Not some green sailors looking for an easy kill."

"Besides," Yilie interjected. "Fong's ship is a newer model, not like the destroyer you probably came in contact with. This is a battleship. It'll make short work of you."

"Well there has to be something we can do with _The Patriot _instead of leaving her on the shore for bait," Boss spoke up.

"Actually. I was thinking bait was exactly what we could use her for. I may be short on artillery, but I have no lack of ammunition. We load your ship up, pilot her to the sea once we see Fong's ship, light her fuse, let them board her, and-"

"No." Gordez said, stopping Fong before he could go any further. "Absolutely not."

"It's just one ship. I can easily provide you win anot-"

"I said 'no.'"

"Gordez," Boss said. "If it gives us an edge, then-"

"Boss. Please."

The room was silent for a moment. All in the room were waiting to see if Boss would pull rank, but instead, he stood down. Not out of a lack of will to discipline those under him, but due to a legitimate understanding. He turned then to Yilie, saying "I'm sorry, but he gets easily attached to his machines."

"He knows his machines then?"

"Yes. Helped man the guns when besieging Ba Sing Se."

"So you really are vets then, huh. Then I guess I'll keep him here by the artillery. Spirits know my men could use some actual professionals here who know their artillery. Fine then. I won't use your ship as a suicide bomb, but I still recommend that we keep it here by the castle. It might encourage Fong to stay back for a while, giving us more time to bombard him. I'll have two of my men, skilled engineers, moor your ship in."

"I'll do it myself," said Gordez.

"If you're as good as your boss says, I'll be needing you preparing for the siege rather than piloting some small boat around. And that's not a suggestion this time. That's an order. You have any armaments on your ship?"

Boss spoke up this time, ignoring Gordez's blatant annoyance. "None."

"Unfortunate. But we could still use your tank. We unfortunately have none here, but if Fong gets ashore and we need to fight outside of the castle, it'll come in handy."

"Think the fighting will come to that? And if it does, will it be worth it at that point?"

Yilie then turned to Boss, looking him in the eye as he muttered those last terrifying words before sending us off to prepare for the fight ahead. "I am prepared to fight to the last man, water to my neck on the southern beach, surrounded by nothing but the enemy, floating on top of your dead bodies if I have to just so I can go deeper into the water while still putting up a fight. I have a wife and a daughter, and I am prepared for them to die, but I will let them give their lives before I let this island fall."

The stares that covered him bid him no trouble. He knew what he was. He wasn't proud of it, but he was done shifting priorities. This island was what he chose to dedicate his life to. And just as much as he was willing to give the lives of everyone in this room for it, I knew he would do the same if it was his life. I'm not sure if that earned him my respect. Perhaps all it did was spare him my hatred. He was a zealous man with radical priorities, but at least he was consistent.

He turned to the young man who had brought in the letter, saying "Reply to Captain Fong. Tell him that we refuse his terms and would rather fight to the death rather than face the Earth Kingdom's excuse for 'justice'. Tell him, however, that if he attempts to invade, he will face the fighting will of the Fire Nation, and each and every one of his men will regret the day they chose to follow Captain Fong into battle." I swallowed. It was a good message, but it was an invitation for the hellfire we were sure to face in these upcoming hours.

**Jadoh**

Jianghezhen, lifeless when we had first entered it, had now sprang into action as, akin to ants within a hive, riled by their queen, set to action, wheeling our catapults from deep within the castles, pulling them up to the top of the cliff edge with pulley-systems, distributing ammunition to the gunners, coordinated by Gordez who was managing the spacing and distribution of the fortress's 7 catapults. Meanwhile, I was making myself useful in hauling artillery shells up to where the cannon was located, overlooking the northern shore.

There was no beachhead for the Earth Kingdom troops to land. If they truly were intent on taking Jianghezhen from the sea, they'd essentially have to ram the mountain head on to get close enough, scaling the mountain by hand. _Probably not that tough for earth benders. _We had accumulated nearly 150 shells by the gun. The firebender in charge of manning the gun was firing blanks into the sea, clearing the gun of any dangerous residue, prepping it for the real fight ahead.

Off in the distance, I could see the ammunition of the catapults being test-fired to check for distance as landmarks were set: small buoys with location markers reading the distance in meters and their matching angles for the catapults at which to be fired. The same treatment, sadly, could not be provided for the artillery gun as there was no constant unit for how far the shell would travel. All was dependent on the firebender manning the gun and their ability to send the shell flying. Another reason the nations were beginning to switch to non-bender weaponry. No more arbitrary measurements.

The furthest we got the catapult to fire was 300 meters, and such was where the final buoy was set up. Below us, _The Patriot _was being held by the castle, moored in and held tight as pulleys were used to bring _Shanzi _up to ground level. _What I would do to give her a spin. _The closest thing we'd ever had to a vehicle in my village was an ostrich-horse-drawn carriage that we'd found in the middle of the woods. The town didn't have the proper feed for it. We suggested letting it run free, but the man who'd found it refused to part with the beast. It died of starvation a week after. I think I even remember crying when it died. I must've been what? Eight? Who could remember?

And to think just over a month ago, I would've been the same kid, stuck in the same place, without a future, just like everybody else, treated like a kid, like a coward because everyone else my age had gone off to the war. _And I was still being treated that way. As though it was easy for me to leave everything behind. Though maybe it had been. What was left for me there? My father was dead, and everyone back home hated my guts. Did I just make the only choice there was? _

I snapped out of it when two soldiers pushed past me, rolling a barrel of blasting jelly between them up to the catapults. I continued walking down the hall, searching for something else to do. I wasn't going to give them any more excuses to view me as lazy, as worthless. I was pulling my weight. I'd made some mistakes, yes, some really dumb ones, but I paid my due. I intended on making sure they saw that. Boiling oil was being deployed above the murder holes, staring straight down the cliffside, ready for any earthbenders stupid and eager enough to make the climb. _Maybe I'd kill myself a few earthbenders today. Hell, maybe the captain himself. That would change their tune._

I walked up to the ground level, it was a whole new world up here. Shanzi was being refueled and check-out, her engine given a few revs to bring her to life. Despite the noise of the clatter of the world around me as it prepared for war, a comparative silence still weighed over all of us, the calm before the storm. The catapults were loaded, pulled back for 300 meters, ready to fire.

Our band was gathered together, arming and armoring with equipment they'd brought up from _The Patriot. _I found a good-looking crossbow sitting on top of Shanzi and went to reach for it before Zek beat me to it, handing the crossbow to Ka'lira who was unarmored as nothing fit her. She was to stay in the castle and pick off the earthbenders from a distance. _At least I'm not the most useless one here. But beat only by a girl. Not much of an accomplishment. _"You even know how to use that? I murmured as I reached for a subpar sword from a rack of them.

I ignored the look Zek gave me. I wasn't sure if she was too stupid, or too innocent to understand the insult behind what I said. "I've been practicing a bit these past few days. It's not too hard. Point and shoot. It's heavy, but easy enough to keep steady."

"Oh is it now?" I asked. Shooting a target is one thing, but heads are small. And if you aren't going to go for the head, you may as well shoot that thing into the ocean for all they care."

She smiled. _Was she really this stupid? _"Which one is your helmet?" she asked, referring to the hood of Shanzi where our helmets were lined up, Luke's the only one with the face mask, another thing I envied of his, alongside the ability to bend fire to his will. With anybody else, I would've said any other helmet, but frankly, there was no risk involved in telling her which was mine. In fact, she had a higher chance of hitting mine if she **wasn't **aiming for it.

"Third on the right," I said. I lowered myself to sit on the grass as I watched the show about to ensue as she struggled to take aim and fire, but before my ass had even touched the ground, the air shook with the spring of her crossbow and the clang of metal-on-metal in the distance. My head immediately turned to the source of the noise to find one helmet in the line-up missing, only to find it lying in the grass 10 meters away, covered in mud and guck. I lifted it to clear away the dirt as Zek laughed in the distance, only to see the sun shining through the helmet at the most awkward of angles, coming through a hole in the rear where the sun now shone through. "What the fuck!?" I yelled at that bitch who had just ruined my helmet. Zek was laughing even louder now as Ka'lira just stood by, a stupid smile on her fucking face. "You bitch!" I moved to knock her on her ass. Zek's smile was gone now and he moved to try to get in between me and her until Boss moved in between the two of us before I could bust Zek's ass.

"Zek, Ka'lira, get some more ammunition for the artillery," he said, trying to get them away from me before I did something I wouldn't regret.

"He busted my fucking helmet!" I yelled. The incident was now garnering the attention of the rest of the garrison around us, some of whom were laughing, some just standing aside in bemused humor. I realized just how whiny I had made myself to sound the moment the words came out, But I was done with the rest of the assholes in this company, even Ka'lira, who was newer than me, thinking I was just some useless kid. They treated Luke with more respect than me. And I was fucking older than him!

"The hell is going on?" Yilie shouted moving past the ring his men had made around me, directing the question towards Boss. "What is this?"

"It's nothing. Just an equipment malfunction."

"Damnit. Get what you need from the armor and keep your men in line while I do the same with mine." He turned to those under his direct command now, saying "You heard what I said. Get back to work, damnit!"

The soldiers busted back into motion, no longer distracted by what they considered to be a "scene."

"What do you think you're doing?"

"They're treating me like a fucking kid!"

"Because you're acting like one. You're threatening to kill them because they damaged your favorite helmet."

"It's not about the helmet! They don't respect me!"

"They don't respect you because you're practically begging them to respect you. You want them to respect you, then earn it."

"I'm trying!"

"That's the problem! You're not trying to earn their respect. You're trying to prove yourself to be better than them. How do you expect them to respect someone who's constantly trying to prove themselves better than them at every turn?"

I didn't have time to answer before he spoke again, not like I even had an answer to that.

"You want them to respect you, then first thing's first, stop thinking it's all about you. We don't exist for you to become a new man. We're not a steppingstone for you to show the world who you are. You chose this life for your own reasons, I get that. Be it because you had no other choice, or because you wanted to prove yourself, I don't care, but you have to realize what this is about. It's not about you gaining glory because you'll get none here. You can stick around for your own reasons, but so long as you're here, you're one of us, above and below none of us, not even me. You want to become one of us, then stop believing you're not." He said nothing for a while, until speaking to say, "I'll get you a new helmet."

And on that note, he left me to my own mind as the sun set behind the cliff, behind the sea, ending the day without a single shot fired. So as sleep evaded me in the castle's dark catacombs, hundreds of feet below ground level, alongside the rest of the garrison and my own comrades, I started to think. Yet no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't agree with what he had said. I couldn't agree that only by abandoning the notion that I had to do certain things to pull my weight, could I actually be worth something. That's what it meant, to have the push to try harder, to do more, _or was it that it was my push that was wrong? Why was I even doing this? Why did I join? Who was I trying to prove myself to? To Boss? To Zek, Luke, Ka'lira, Gordez? To my dead father? To my village? WHO? To myself? What was I even proving? _I turned to the bunk to my right, where Zek was sleeping. Ka'lira was nowhere in sight, sleeping in a room away from the men at Zek's own request. I turned to my other side to see Luke, dead as a brick, his chest hardly even rising nor sinking. _On every side of me were men just the same as me, so why did I believe I was so different? _On the day I had tried to run away from home, to enlist just as every last friend of mine in that town had, my father told me that on the field, there was no such thing as ability, no such thing as strength, as intelligence, but only luck. And that all men were just as lucky as unlucky. We were all the same out there, all as likely to die as one another. We were all the same then, so why did I still feel as though I didn't belong? Because they all had their reasons, and the sad thing was, I don't think I even had a reason. For the last month, I'd been trying to find it. I'd tried using it as a way to prove my village, my father wrong. I tried using it as a way to see the world. I tried using it as a way to fit in with a group, to find glory, but none of these had stuck. There was some purpose to the choice I made, but Raava forgive me, I had no idea wat it was. With any luck, maybe I'd find it tomorrow.

That next morning, we woke to a sky thick with fog, and I knew that today would be the day. It would either be the day I found that purpose, or the day I wouldn't have to worry about purpose any longer.

**Boss**

The dawn sky was hidden by a forbearing mist, shrouding the soon-to-be field of war from our sight. The night guard had reported no incidences but had stated that the fog had risen at approximately 0645. _They may have waterbenders on board, trying to create a mist to hide their actions. Would explain the events of yesterday. A cover while they established an underseas blockade. _

The enemy had likely spent the night clearing the mines along their path of approach to ensure they wouldn't fall into their own trap. If he had any sense of intelligence to him, Fong would neglect the invasion and allow us to starve ourselves out on this island. I had no idea how large our coffers were, but it was clear to both him and us that we had no contact going in nor out, much less any provisions.

However, lucky for us, _or potentially unlucky, _Fong was a glory hound, and would insist on meeting us in a full-frontal assault. However, it seemed that, despite this, he had some wit to him, and to fog cover proved just as much. _Likely some overeager southern warriors. Yet another potential ally the Fire Nation had turned into an enemy due to its own aggression. I myself had been part of the reason that the Southern Water Tribe held us in such low regard. These things seemed to happen when you tried to eliminate an entire culture of people. You would think we would've learned our lesson, yet here we were. _Thanks to the activities of such righteous benders, however, our artillery was effectively rendered useless. The closest marker we could see was the 50-meter one. We had lost any initiative we had previously held, and the target we were, Fong would spot us long before we spotted him.

Yilie was aware of this much too and had no intention of giving Fong the first attack, or at the very least, allowing it to be as effective as possible.

We were standing together, me, Gordez, and Yilie. The night watch, 10 men, were getting some sleep deeper in the castle. In the fortifications along the cliffside where we were, around 57 soldiers stood with us, 2 manning the artillery gun, 55 armed with bows and arrows, awaiting first contact with the enemy to make their move. Above us, on the top of the cliff, 50 other soldiers, alongside Luke, Jadoh, Ka'lira, and Zek, were manning the catapults, preparing a second front should the castle fall. With our limited armaments, no troops were enabled to stick to a particular role. All men currently serving as archers now would be expected to switch to close-quarters combat in a minute's notice should it come to that ad we found ourselves fighting within the confines of the castle's tunnels. Yilie turned to the men next to him, saying "Lights out!" The orders echoed across the tunnels as the men repeated the order down the tunnels of the castle until the gas to the lights was cut off, and all internal lighting soon was cut out in a hopeful attempt to shroud our presence in a manner similar to what our foes were doing.

The murder holes were armed, the boiling oil ready to drop, the artillery was loaded, ready to fire at 75 meters, roughly where we expected the fog to have ended, and the soldiers were as ready as they could be expected to be under the circumstances. There wasn't much more to do other than to wait.

And as I waited there, readying myself to fight the same enemy I had been fighting my entire life, I couldn't help but ask myself what had changed. How was I somewhere any different opposed to where I had been a year ago. I was fighting the same people. Taking orders from the same nation. _What had changed? Was I really so blindly loyal to my nation that I had agreed to fight for them without even discussing payment? What the hell kind of mercenary was I pretending to be? I was still a soldier. Hell, I was doing more for my nation now than I ever had while in the Southern Raiders or besieging Ba Sing Se. And I was dragging everyone under me down the selfsame road. At the very least, it didn't seem to be the biggest issue right now, but what about in the future? What about when people who actually held the same purpose I claimed to have, 'protecting those unable to protect themselves.' What then?_

I cleared the questions from my mind. A war was about to commence, and I wasn't about to allow my mind to drift just as the calm before the storm came to its end.

We waited minutes more, but in our minds, the hours dragged by. _What if the fog is real? What if Fong is holding off the attack as he, just as us, doesn't desire to be lost in the morning mist? _I heard some shuffling to my left to see Yilie move past Gordez to me, speaking loudly and clearly, unafraid of his voice being heard, and reasonably so, "I'm thinking we fire our catapults into the mist. I have more than enough blasting jelly. We can set the barrels for a short fuse, so they'll detonate before reaching the water. Hopefully we can clear some of the mist. And if we're lucky and Fong is hiding somewhere out there, we may just score a hit on him."

"That," I said, "Or we'll just be telling Fong exactly where we are."

"He'll find that out soon enough anyway if he leaves the fog, and he'll have the initiative of a first shot then. I don't want to give him that edge."

"But if you fire, we'll have to wait to reload before firing again. In that time, he'll know right where we are and be able to bombard us."

Gordez spoke up this time, saying, "You can fire 3 or 4 of the catapults, evenly spaced, and leave the rest loaded and ready to fire. If we spot him, we can order the rest to quickly change their trajectories, and at least score some good shots before he gets his own barrage in."

Yilie nodded at that, begrudgingly accepting the idea. He hadn't had the best first interaction with Gordez, but I could at least appreciate Yilie for knowing when someone other than him had a good idea. I've had far too many commanders in the past who failed to make that realization. "Fire Catapults B, D, and F at 75 meters. Set fuse for 6 seconds."

The order was relayed to the nearby PA operator, who proceeded to repeat the order through a metal pipe running through the stone up to the firing area above. The echo could be heard through the pipes, followed by a wait of only 10 seconds, proceeded immediately by the mechanical release of 3 catapults was heard from above, hurling 3 burning barrels. And so we watched ahead as the large barrels turned into microscopic blots into the foggy mist, until they erupted in orange balls of fire, the sheer force and power of the explosion clearing the mist from the sea, providing us a line of sight into the sea, only to unveil nothing but the mere expanse of the green sea, no ship in sight.

The orders to "reload!" were heard from above as more rounds were loaded. "Should we fire another barrage?" I asked, "allow us to see further?"

"No," he said, raising an arm as though motioning to stop before I could even think to say any more. "We wait."

The wait would only extend a few seconds more until a barrage of 5 stones could be seen hurtling towards us, spawning out of the foggy mist in full force towards us, all falling short, hitting beneath us, crashing against nothing but the base of the mountain on which we were situated, achieving nothing but not only telling us that the enemy did in fact exist, but more so, exactly where they were.

"Catapults A, C, E, and G, rotate 15 degrees west to 105 degrees, distance to 95 meters, same fuse, fire."

15 seconds later, the same mechanical whir came to life, followed by 4 more explosions in the distance, clearing the fog once more in a fiery ball of light, unveiling the sea, and in the corner of the clearing, and Earth Kingdom vessel, turning to its port side so as to face us head on. None of the explosions had damaged the vessel, but we had a definitive lock on where they were, but unfortunately for us, so did they in regard to us.

Facing us now, the 2 bow-side Earth Kingdom ballistae fired towards us, launching spherical disks on earth straight towards our defensive positions. Gravity, in this case, was our ally, as the sheer distance between us, slowly diminishing, pushed the disks below our positions, colliding with the cliffside around 15 meters below us.

"Catapult group A is ready to fire!" came the update from the PA operator.

"Fire for 105 degrees, distance at 90 meters, same fuse." As the order was relayed through the metallic pipes, Yilie pushed past his troops including us, moving to where the artillery gun was housed in the tunnels, ready to fire. "Set for 105 degrees west, 75 south, and fire!"

The firebenders manning the guns mustered their strength, channeling their inner flames in the same way I'd seen Luke do so many times, and in one synchronized motion, firing their energy into 2 input barrels of the gun, combining their strength, emitting one single unified flame in a beautiful arc of red, orange, and yellow, hurtling through the air. All men in the tunnels watched in awe as the fire neared its target, praying it would hit gold. We watched as the barrage of ammunition came down, 3 flaming barrels of blasting jelly, and once bolt of fire, only for all to miss save one: 2 barrels detonating prematurely, serving no end by the shake the seas, and the bolt of fire to hit said waves. One barrel however, detonated later, singing the port side of the vessel that was now facing directly towards us. It was their turn now, however.

Their catapults were now facing us, 10 catapults in total, 5 on each side, and they were all loaded and ready to fire. 2 earth disks and 10 hurtling stones now rained upon. We braced and faced the impact with whatever strength we could. We were fortunate enough that the disks barely missed us once more, one colliding below, and one above us, raining down loose rocks upon us. 7 catapult boulders missed us, both above and below. 3 however, struck their targets. One hit one of the castle turrets' supports, bringing down a chunk of the thankfully unmanned tower into the sea. Another hit above, doing an unknown amount of damage. One however, made its ware directly into our tunnel, disregarding the thin walls of the tunnel, smashing them like paper macho, crushing and killing 2 of our soldiers, injuring 3 more with their earthen shards.

The fire was quickly extinguished by the fire benders operating the turret who had just barely evaded the wrath of the boulder. Yilie now pushed his PA operator out of the way, yelling above him, "Group B, Fire at 100 degrees, 85 meters, 6.5 seconds!", rushing immediately afterward to the artillery gun, yelling, "100 west, 70 south, fire!"

The artillery sounded, and as they did, Yilie yelled, "Get that boulder out of the tunnel. We need to stay mobile! Soldiers! Switch to bows! Nock on my command!"

1 catapult hit its target, colliding against the port side of the ship that was now directly perpendicular to us, dealing minimal damage, but telling us we were at least aiming in the right position. The other 3 catapults missed by mere meters, but at the very least, the artillery blast hit gold, striking one of their starboard side catapults, sinking the molted remains of their ordnance into their lower decks.

The next Earth Kingdom barrage was far less effective thanks to their substantial change in position in an effort to evade our more powerful weaponry, in the process, abandoning their own accuracy to the extent that no ammunition struck our tunnels, but some did indeed strike above us as we prayed none had taken down our guns. Once more, it was our turn to fire, and so the order was "straight ahead, group A, 90 degrees, 80 meters, fire!"

The barrage struck gold, disabling two more earth kingdom catapults, taking off a chunk of their port side, and landing a clean shot on one of their engines. The closer they got to us, the cleaner shots we'd have. And they realized this. So in the truest style of an Earth Kingdom vessel, it's stood its ground, directly in front of us, fearing no god, no master, and fired. One boulder struck directly above our tunnel, injuring a man who was promptly carried deeper into the castle tunnels. 2 shots missed, and 4 more hit above us as a disk hit into our tunnel, taking the torso of one soldier off of his legs, digging his remains into the tunnel walls, and an additional one hit above us.

Yilie, still at the PA system, yelled, "Straight ahead, 90 degrees, group B, 80 meters, fire!" Of the 4 batteries supposedly in catapult group B, only 3 fired, as well as did our artillery gun. All were aimed to strike gold, their heading directly towards the enemy, set to cripple the vessel, until a dome of earth rose around _The Iron Ram, _blocking all incoming shots, rendering our barrage useless. Meanwhile, beneath that dome, they had prepared for their barrage the whole time. The dome dissipated, and 9 projectiles emerged from the invulnerable vessel. We braced as best as we could, but it wouldn't be enough.

The mechanical scraping from above us followed by the screeches of bending steel, the splintering of wood, and the creaming of men told us that the impacts above were just as bad if not worse than what was faced below. We were struck by 2 boulders, killing 3 and injuring 5, and one perfectly placed disk that made its way through the artillery gun's firing slit, knocking off the firing mechanism, destroying its supports with the shards of its impact, and mutilating the corpses of what had moments ago been two alive-and-well operators.

"Group A, fire!" No guns fired. "Group B, fire!" Nothing. The Earth Kingdom vessel was now moving again, a mass of solid steel making its way towards us, likely only 60 meters away now, far out of range of even our best archers. So we braced as they bathed us in their explosive fury once more, killing 7 more and injuring 4 as our last catapult managed to fire, taking down an enemy gun before it was taken out itself, rendering us defenseless.

"Nock!" Yilie yelled, ordering his men to prepare their bows. "Draw!" he yelled once more, demanding their pull their strings, arrows attached, and wait. Gordez alongside 2 others were trying their damndest to repair the artillery gun as the ship moved ever closer. I myself was armed with a crossbow, ready to do what little I could before the real fighting began. Soon enough, they were at firing range, and so were we. "Loose!" Yilie yelled, and the battle began.


	14. Chapter 11: The Defense of Jianghe

**Boss**

"Loose!", yelled Yilie the moment that _The Iron Ram _had come into range. What semblance of organization that remained within our ranks fired a volley of arrows downwards at the approaching Earth Kingdom dreadnought, but as had been done before, the attacks were repelled with ease, the on-board benders creating yet another dome of solidified rock and dirt, using it to protect their vessel, rendering our efforts useless. Yilie, however, showed no intention of giving them any ground, and so, unphased, he prepared the second volley.

"Nock!" The soldiers nocked their arrows.

"Draw!" The soldiers drew their bows, ready to fire. I readied my own crossbow, preparing my aim towards a ballistae operator, not that it would do much.

"Loose!" The soldiers loosened their arrows, as did I. Once more, like rain drops against the earth, our arrows became sticks, falling upon an uncaring enemy.

The fear in the soldiers around us was apparent now, but for the time being at the very least, their fear of Yilie was still greater. And so, they nocked once more, they drew once more, but before they could loose, the speed of the Earth Kingdom solders proved superior, and they deployed yet another barrage of ammunition earthen disks, flaming boulders, and even some arrows, killing an indeterminate number of our troops, and injuring a just as unknown number, but their opening gave us one as well, so what few of us had stood our ground, fired.

The earthbenders were unable to raise their defenses in a timely enough matter to deflect our volley this time, and a good amount of our arrows struck home, but the prompt revival of the earth dome shrouded our desired assessment of the damage we dealt. This time, the dome didn't lower. It remained in place, above _The Iron Ram. _They'd weakened us more than sufficiently. All they needed do was close the distance between us, and they'd be more than ready to finish off our crumbling defenses. Yilie could see this much as well. "Switch to close range weapons! Ready the burning oil! Evacuate tunnels C and D below us and prepare the charges for said tunnels."

"The charges?" I turned to ask him. "They'll enter through the lower tunnels instead of risking their way to attack us through here. Once they do, we'll blow the tunnels to kingdom come and hopefully bury a few of the bastards with them."

I nodded. A sound enough plan despite the fact that they were earthbenders. Our only hope would come in the explosions killing them their selves.

"How far do the charges go?"

"Bombs are planted in every wall of the castle including this very tunnel. I'm prepared to reduce this place to slag if it means stopping the enemy's advance."

We were surrounded by blasting jelly, these walls just waiting to cave in on us, and so they would if we didn't stop the enemy here and now. If ever there was incentive to fight, this was it.

**Zek**

_The Iron Ram _was here, directly perpendicular to the mountain, only a few meters away, it's so called iron ram having already dug into the mountain so as to stabilize itself. The moment the mountain shook with the combined mass of the dreadnought directly below us, two grappling hooks, fired out of the ship's bow ballistae were fired in a 90-degree arc, rising tens of meters above us only to sink back down and cling onto the cliff edge, giving the enemy the perfect route directly to us.

In charge of our front had been Yilie's second in command, Hide, however, he had been critically injured by a shard of one of our catapults a it had exploded into a million tiny pieces, one rather large one striking Hide in the chest. Zetsu was now in charge, absolutely containing no idea of what the hell he was doing. The moment he saws those hooks emerge from the horizon, he froze, but by some fortune, those under him were better prepared. And so they rushed forward, alongside myself, immediately using whatever we could to dislodge the solid steel hooks that had dug into the ground with no effect however, at least until Luke ran forward, blowing holes directly where each prong had dug in, loosening the hook for us to send it back down towards _The Iron Ram. _The same thing was done with the second hook.

Our catapults may have been out of operation, but we were still had the ammunition. Barrel after barrel of blasting jelly, as Zetsu stood motionless, was rolled to the cliff edge, lit by Luke or the other firebender that luckily was still with us, and sent down below to the vessel below us.

The remainder of our men still possessing bows, as the tunnels below prepared for close-quarters-combat, fired at the enemy below us. And so the earthbenders faced a combined force of exploding barrels and fierce arrows. The majority of the barrels slipped in between the gap between the cliff edge and the ship, detonating harmlessly at the bottom of the sea as only one managed to hit the vessel's deck, reducing one of the ballistae to slags. By the time we could even think to light the barrels for a shorter fuse, the earthbenders below had raised their defenses once more and had thus created the earthen shell of a turtle as the soldiers quite literally walked up the mountain, some one step at a time, and some moving the earth beneath their feet to elevate themselves.

The earthbenders aboard _The Iron Ram _were done wasting time as well. Their attention shifted to us now, firing rock after rock, disk after disk, arrow after arrows our way 2 of our men were killed by arrows, and 3 more by flying rocks, by no means worth the effort. "Pull back!" I yelled, seeing this was a worthless effort. "Pull back!"

Before we could pull back, an overeager Fire Nation soldier, pushing one final lit barrel over the edge was met with an earthen spear that went completely through the barrel, impaling him before the barrel could detonate, taking out 2 others alongside him and sending molted slags of stony remains below.

I moved back to where Ka'lira was tending to a wounded soldier and Jadoh was distributing close quarters weapons to the soldiers, clearly against his will, likely viewing his job as beneath him, the piece of shit that he was.

Zetsu had somehow snapped out of it and was now on the PA, practically begging Yilie to tell him what to do. I shook my head. This was the man sent to lead us.

We could hear the same characteristic metallic grinding and scraping behind us as the grappling hook fired into the air once more, only one this time, grapping into the cliff side once more. A soldier rushed forward to dislodge it alongside Luke who I just barely managed to hold back. I tried calling out to the soldier, but it was no use as his head was taken off by a disk of solid, compact stone, some glory hound of an earthbender below taking the first shot he could.

Luke looked at me, and I didn't need him to say, "thank you" to know the intent in his eyes. He looked to the barrels of blasting jelly that we would have previously been raining down upon some Earth Kingdom skulls, and I got his meaning. We rolled a barrel forward to the hook, not daring to get close enough to the cliff edge that had taken already more than a few of the lives of our fellow soldiers and waited.

We could already hear the battle below, roaring through the tunnels as first contact was made, and knew we would be coming up next, but the longer we could avoid it, the better. And so, climbing up the hook, the first earthbender showed himself, and Luke fired. The barrel exploded into a ball of gold as the man's face was taken off of his head, and the iron hook was blown into thousands of tiny shards, and pushed back into the sea, tearing off a chunk of the cliff' edge along with it. Yet the sounds of the battle below told us we had evaded the fight for only the time being.

We had only further validation of that when the PA activated once more, and Yilie's voice, surrounded by the shouting off the world around him, spoke, "Your female mercenary. Get her in the castle. I want her with my wife and son, to defend them, and if it comes to it, make it quick."

Ka'lira had heard. And I couldn't get her face out of my mind as she rushed down into the dark abyss of the warring tunnels to attend to a matter that was best left unspoken, yet she of all people seemed to understand what she was being asked to do, and so she left, and I only prayed her job didn't come to it.

**Boss**

The first earthbender smashed through the window of the tunnel, surrounded by a ball of earth, rendering the first barrage of fire useless, merely being reflected off of the stone shield. He lowered his defenses in time for two more of his compatriots to storm through the tunnel viewports, one bending the tunnel wall to fold in on itself crushing a soldier who had been unfortunately in close proximity to it, burying him into the stone of the mountain, leaving me to window if it was suffocation or crushing that he would die by. The other earth bender brought up a column of earth in front of his, blocking a stream of fire, punching the top half of it off to collide into the firebender in front of him, knocking him out, possibly even crushing his insides and killing the man, but there was no time to keep tally.

With the last bolt in my crossbow, I fired at the original bender who had come through the window, putting it straight into his heart as it pierced past his measly armor, splintering the shards of it, sending even more straight into his chest, causing him to drop to the ground a half-second later, dead. I dropped the crossbow, unsheathing my sword as I struck at the third bender, only hitting another column of earth he had brought up. I remembered what had happened to the last man who had met such a defense, and so, I ducked, evading the cube of earth that barely missed me as he punched it forward, hardly managing to dislodge my blade from it in time as it shot forward, crashing against the rear wall of the tunnel. I brought my sword around once more, hidden behind the base of his shield, and leaped over it, digging my blade into his throat as he dropped to the floor, turning to see the second earthbender had already been brought down by Gordez, a red throat marking how the man had died.

By that time, however, the battle was only beginning. Yilie was now armed for combat, a growing flame in his right hand as he turned to the tunnel PA system, yelling "Detonate tunnels C and D!"

There was a slight delay, but soon enough, the mountain on which we stood shook with such ferocity that I expected the floor below us to cave in at any moment and send us into the unforgiving sea below.

More earthbenders were now storming into the tunnels, their turtle-shell of a defense now directly over our tunnels, not even allowing light to enter. Our defenses were now divided in two, the Earth Kingdom-occupied artillery gun marking the center. On its left, were me, Gordez, and a few other soldiers while on the right, Yilie stood his ground with his men, and the Earth Kingdom's center flank was spreading out, and their reserves were now storming in, their nonbenders, and luckily, we were their targets, and such was our relief for the time being.

Quite literally backed against the wall, our minimal force: me, Gordez, and 3 other Fire Nation soldiers stood our ground.

Gordez by my side, I evaded the spear thrust of an Earth Kingdom soldier, slicing through its shaft, disabling the weapon as Gordez thrust his sword into the soldier's side and I into his chest, grabbing him with my arm to dislodge my blade and shove it into the heart of the Earth Kingdom soldier in front of me as Gordez dispatched another, leading to the charge of another Earth Kingdom soldier charging through the center between the two of us until a spear held by one of our compatriot soldiers was shoved into his stomach. The man fell, and the soldier reached forward to retrieve his spear until an arrow took him in the heart and he fell backward. There were 4 of us now, and 3 Earth Kingdom archers directly in front of us, 2 of whom were ready to fire. I evaded left, dropping to the ground, and Gordez right, hugging the wall as two arrows shot past us.

A Fire Nation soldier behind us, thankfully till wielding his bow, brought down the center Earth Kingdom bowman as another soldier rushed forward, kill the leftmost archer and Gordez dispatched the rightmost. We were moving forward now, nearing the center mass of the battle as Gordez killed an Earth Kingdom axeman, and one of our soldiers will a spearman until his body was hurled into the rear wall of the cave by a slab of earth that popped out of the ground, crushing him instantly, and releasing his broken body and spilling guts. I could now see the soldier who wielded this chunk of the ground, and so ducked as to avoid its spiral that still managed to take the torso of the Fire Nation soldier in front of me off form his legs.

I rolled forward, bringing my blade up in an arc to take off his left arm from below as Gordez, with a hefty swing of his sword, took off the man's head from his neck.

It was just the two of us now on this flank, the bodies of the fallen littering the tunnel floors. We looked to each other with the mutual understanding that it all came down to this, and so we advanced, forward, together, not much else more to do with the wall to our backs. _Just like old times._

So we went forward, I slashed off the arm of a swordsman as Gordez caught the blade, turning it in his hands, sinking the blade into the man's stomach, allowing him to bleed out as we pushed forward and I drove my sword through a man's neck as he dropped his spear which I managed to grab and sink into a third man's stomach as he fell to the floor after Gordez had sliced straight through his ankle, removing his foot from his leg. I was now to Gordez's right and him to my left as we pushed further ahead, drawing ever nearer to the center flank, which was now dispersing more, shifting ever closer to Yilie's waning flank.

I watched as an earthbender dropped a boulder atop one of our own's headed, smashing it into a pulp of red gore. Feeling particularly vengeful, I stabbed my blade into his side, twisting it so as to have the blade face upwards and pulled, opening his side as Gordez cut through his leg, dropping the man to bleed to death in a pile of his own organs.

I leaped over the man's bleeding remains, now on Gordez's left side once more, and cut the neck of an unwary swordsman who was watching the battle ahead of him in awe, unaware of the approaching threat behind us. And that, me and Gordez certainly were. Gordez ripped a stubbed warhammer out of the grip of a larger man who Gordez was able to overpower with his sheer strength, swinging the hammer into the man's skull, fusing his head with the tunnel's walls. The Earth Kingdom's nonbending division, at least those deployed into the tunnel, seemed to have waned to hardly any left at all as the earthbenders led the fight, now more dispersed, no longer a single moving mass of fury, but engaging the full length of the tunnel into bloody combat, no single area truly secure, but we had reached where the artillery gun was now that Gordez had been working on, and nearly fixed earlier. The earthbenders, fortunately for us, hadn't bothered to completely destroy the gun, but believing the tunnel secure, had left it.

Gordez shifted his attention to the gun, kneeling down, almost slipping on the blood-soaked stone, inspecting the gun as I held our ground, making a diagonal slice across the chest of a swordsman who had thought to take me in single combat.

"How's it looking, Gordez?!" I yelled.

"The gun's almost ready to fire. I just have to find support to prop it up!"

I turned looking for anything that would suffice, and with my foot, shoved the body of the soldier I had just killed to the gun. Me and Gordez managed to lift the gun and prop the broken leg on the troop's corpse, perfectly propping up the gun.

"We good?!" I asked, eager to turn the tide to our favor and hopefully sink this damned dreadnought that seemed to be spawning more soldiers by the second.

"Behind you!"

I turned, by sheer instinct ducked the Earth Kingdom axe, and swung my blade across the man's stomach, allowing his intestines to seep to the ground like raw noodles.

"Are we good?!" I yelled, turning back to Gordez.

"No! We need a firebender. And we need to get this damn turtle shell off of the cliffside. I can't fire with this damned thing in the way!"

"On it!"

I turned. I had to find the PA. It was a short way behind us, where we'd already come from. The way was clear. I rushed towards it, picking up the speaker and placing my ear to the mic, asking, "Hello. Hello. Is anyone there?!"

I waited a few seconds before repeating, "Hello?! Is anyone there?! Please pick up!"

"Governor?" was the response. "Is that you?" It was Zetsu. _Where was Hide? _I hadn't exactly had the first impression of him when Yilie assigned his commanders. Here was hoping he proved me wrong right now.

"Lieutenant Zetsu. I need you to order your men to destroy the turtle shell. We can't fire the gun without it. And I'll be needing Luke to help man the-"

"Did the governor give you this order?"

"Yilie and I are cut off. He doesn't have access to the gun. We do and we need to fire it now!"

"I don't take orders from you. Only the governor. And we're busy fighting our own battle up here. I can't spare my only bender for you!"

"Zetsu! If we don't take out this ship. They'll continue to bombard the island and it won't matter which fucking bender is where!"

There was no answer.

"Zetsu!?" Nothing. "Fuck!"

"Anything?!" Gordez asked.

"Nothing. I'll do it myself."

I looked ahead deeper into the tunnel, where the fighting went on. I could just barely see the stairway that led above to the ground level, guarded by Yilie and the remains of his guard. I had to get there. I had to get there now.

I rushed past Gordez. The rearguard of earthbenders was now starting to notice Gordez and I wasted no time covering him as he defended the gun with his life. I ducked so as to dodge the first one's disk, recovered, sprinted forward and dodging left, nearly falling out of the tunnel into the sea below, dodging a flying boulder, barely making it forward to cut the first earthbender's neck, turning in one continuous swing to slice the other across the chest, allowing both to drop in one fell swoop.

Another wave of earthbenders were coming into the tunnel now. One, propelled by the earth he used as a spring below him, dived into the tunnel behind me in one marvelous motion that even the beauty of could not save him from my sword as I sliced his stomach, turning as I heard the _thunk_ of his corpse fall behind me. I continued forward, saving a Fire Nation soldier on the ground who was about to be impaled by an earthbender's pike, stabbing my sword through the man's side, shoving him forward to the ground, stomping on his face so as to end the threat, using my foothold on his face as leverage so as to dislodge my blade and bring it to a swing against an Earth Kingdom bowman who was raining shots on Yilie's defense, slicing through the top of his head, cutting it in two like an overripe melon as he fell to the ground, dead before I could hear the _thunk. _

An earthbender wielding two hammers saw me then, using the hammers to bend, raising rock with one and firing it towards me with the other. I dodged right, preparing my sword for a swing until the mountain shook with even more ferocity than it did last time. _Tunnel B just blew up. It was just us now. _I recovered my footing before my opponent could, and I brought down my sword in a cut that went from the bridge of his nose to his chest, opening his face in a vile matter than I forced myself to disregard, as I shoved past him in a desperate effort to get to Yilie. I had to keep on moving. The second wave of earthbenders had entered the tunnel and were quickly approaching. I prayed that Gordez would be able to defend the gun.

I reached the front line of the tunnel where a line of 3 earthbenders forged a moving barrier of solid stone, their backs to me, slowly approaching where Yilie was making his last stand.

I shoved my sword through the back of the center soldier. The structure collapsed, him having provided the most support. The two men to both sides of where he had just stood prior to losing his life now turned to me, readying to end my life then and there until Yilie's guards shoved their own spears through the chests of the two in one synchronized motion, bringing the two of them down directly in front of me as they moved past me to extend the defensive line.

"You're alive," Yilie said in amazement. The man was torn up, covered, in blood, muck, and ash. I was just as surprised to see him alive as he was in regard to me.

"For now," I said. "I need to get to the surface. We need to take out the turtle shell so we can get the gun to fire."

"It's fixed, then?!"

"Yes. I just need a firebender to man it."

"All of mine are dead. Hide might have some still alive above."

"Hide's gone. Zetsu's in charge."

"Damnit. Get up there and relieve my uncle. I'll try to pave a way to the gun for you. Maybe try to kill Fong if I find that hiding coward. Now go!"

I nodded and rushed past him up the stairs. 2 Fire Nation swordsmen who were guarding the other end of the stairs quickly rushed back down to aid in Yilie's push towards the gun. I was on the surface now, and Yilie hadn't been lying. It was hell above. Boulders from _The Iron Ram's _catapults were raining down on the field, indiscriminatory between their own forces and ours. The earth was littered in mangled bodies, uniforms undistinguishable from one another by the blood and muck covering their corpses, more dirt being shot into the air with every boulder that came crashing down from the heavens above.

I sprinted out of the tunnel, a fresh explosion of fire, rock, and dirt to my right, splattering me in its debris as I continued to rush forward, pushing past a Fire Nation soldier who was stumbling around, not looking in any particular direction, merely lost in the field.

I scanned around me, looking past the shattered remains of our own catapults, nearly impossible to discern in the sky that had been plagued with the ash of the conflict, shrouding the midday sun for all of us. In the distance, however, I could see the streams of Fire emitting into the air, lighting figures aflame. _Luke. _

I made my way there, slicing through an Earth Kingdom soldier who was stumbling for his weapon on the ground, cutting straight through the nape of his neck, ending his search then and there. I was thrown to the ground by another catapult boulder to my immediate left, but somehow managed to regain my footing, dodging an earthbender's disk that struck where I had been on the floor seconds ago. Before he could launch his next projectile, I charged toward him, shoving my sword all the way through to his back, lodging the blade so deep in that there was no hope for recovery. I abandoned it, sprinting towards the firebender who I could now see stood beside multiple other figures in the field of war, the last Fire Nation fortification up above, holding their ground by the metallic beast that was _Shanzi. _

Defenseless, I tried my damndest to avoid the other figures in the field, both Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation alike, not knowing who, in the chaos of all that surrounded me, would take me as the enemy.

I was nearly there, nearly to where Luke was, where they were being besieged by an entire Earth Kingdom siege. Without missing a beat, I grabbed the first weapon I could off of the ground, only learning it was a hammer by the time I brought it down of the back of the closest soldier's head, caving in his skull and bringing him to the ground. The one who had been to his left turned to face me, raising his own hammer until an arrow exited through his skull between his two eyes, sending him straight down in front of me, an arrow I saw to have belonged to Jadoh. The rest of the Earth Kingdom siege line had spotted me now, and moved to intercept me, but in doing so, they had taken their attention off of Luke, who, with a prolonged stream of fire, ignited the line of soldiers, their screams the last noises they made as they fell to the ground, opening the way for me to enter the defensive area that my own mercenaries had established.

Luke looked to me, now seeing who it was, and nodded. I nodded back and turned to Jadoh who was crouched atop the tank with a crossbow. He had no bragging words. He had no complaints. He loaded another bolt and looked at me, nodding as well. We all had that day, where in the midst of hell, we forgot everything we use to have: our anger, our fear, and became what we all were: soldiers. Today was that day for Jadoh.

I moved past him, moving further into the minimal Fire Nation defensive zone, the only bit of Zetsu I could find being his corpse, punctured by numerous earthen shards, slumped against the PA stand. There was no point relieving him now. _So who was in charge?_

In that moment, somebody shoved past me, moving to the other end of the defensive line, saying, "Draw back to the tank! Move the front flank further inwards to secure the tunnel." A voice I recognized. "Zek!" I yelled. The man who the voice had belonged to turned towards me, and he saluted, "Boss!"

"What's the situation?!"

"Captain Hide died of his wounds. Zetsu by artillery. There was no second in command so I'm trying to organize the defense."

"Doing well, all things considered, but I'm going to need you for a second. Order your men to extend the front to the cliffside. I need enough barrels of blasting jelly rained down on the turtle shell to bring it down so we can get our gun firing. I'll be needing Luke too."

"Boss. We're undermanned as is, and I need Luke's help to defend the line."

"I'll take his place, but we need a firebender down below as soon as possible."

"But we can't extend our line. I can't spare anyone to take down that turtle shell. Besides, the Earth Kingdom has overrun our supply of jelly."

"Boss!" I heard Luke say. There's another way to fire the gun!"

I turned to hear his suggestion but before he could speak, amidst the chaos of the siege, I heard the words spoken, "Riders approaching!" I turned to see where the said subject was, turning to see that, through the gap in the line we had created, another soldier had entered the line, one of ours, no, not one of ours, but not Earth Kingdom either. The town's own security forces, mounted on an ostrich horse, barely making it past the gap in the Earth Kingdom's lines that we had just created. "I need to find governor Yilie!" he cried. "Where is he?!"

"Down below! What's the matter?!"

"He needs to know. The beach is under attack! Another ship came in! More earthbenders! They're attacking the town, making their way to the mountain!"

_A second ship?_

I looked around me, the eyes on the faces of the men around me said as much as the news had. The look that said all was lost. No. No we could still work this out. I turned to Luke. Behind the fire in his eyes, I could see the grimness that said he knew he would die here, but such didn't have to be the case. "Luke!" I called. "The other idea. What is it?"

"We can bring the blasting jelly down to the tunnels, use it to ignite the gun and launch the shells."

"Then here's what we'll do," I said. "I'm taking command of what forces we have up here. We'll secure the blasting jelly, take out the turtle, and fire the gun. We're abandoning this front. Luke, Jadoh, take the messenger and get back to the town. I need you to take _Shanzi_ and get there as soon as possible. Defend the civilians and don't let the Earth Kingdom get up this mountain. Stop them while there's still something left of this island." Luke nodded, not needing another moment to even consider what I was asking him to do, to face an invasion force of Earth Kingdom soldiers face to face. He turned to Jadoh then to deliver the news. I turned to Zek then, "Zek," I said, you and I will rally what's left of our forces and secure the ammunition. We'll take down that turtle shell, clear the way for our artillery, and take out the dreadnought." Zek, nodded, clearly relieved that he could stay with the forces he'd dedicated the entirety of the battle to organizing as best as he could given the circumstances.

I turned to what was left of the diminishing Fire Nation forces. "Fire Nation," I called, and what few soldiers remained, 7 as I could count, turned to me, likely ready to accept any degree of leadership after the excuse that was Zetsu. "We will not win this fight by holding on to this mountain side. The only way to save this island, the only way to save your families living here, to protect everything you hold dear, is to blow _The Iron Ram _to kingdom come! And that's precisely what I aim to do! If you care to help me out with this, then rally on me!"

Somehow, the yells of the soldiers managed to even eclipse the roaring of _Shanzi's _engine coming to life. Jadoh was entering the tank after Luke and the messenger until I stopped him, saying, "Jadoh." He turned. "I need a weapon." With no hesitation, with no malice, but with the simple knowledge of what was at stake, he reached into the tank, pulling out a steel shortsword, throwing it to me by the hilt which I managed to catch. I nodded to him, and him to me prior to him speeding off to what could very well be his death.

The men were rallied on me now, I could see the stash of blasting jelly, amidst the chaos of the fight. Without the tank, we had no cover, and we were still surrounded by the Earth Kingdom siege line, but serving in the military for most of my life has taught me one thing, and that was how to read the face of a soldier, and the faces around me, they told me that we had a chance, that the anger, the desperation, the will to win was greater than anything the Earth Kingdom could throw at us, and so we charged.

**Zek**

There was no hesitation among the men. We'd been surrounded for the last 30 minutes, watching our numbers slowly diminish. As much of a suicide mission it may have been, nobody atop this cliff was hesitant to take the fight back to them, despite every advantage being held by our enemy. I had one luxury, however. I knew the man I was following. I knew him as the man that had helped me get through an impossible two-year siege alive, and I knew he'd get me through this as well.

Those next to me, however, they didn't have that luxury, and yet I still had no idea how they could so quickly put their faith in a man of whom they knew nothing about. A man who had abandoned this selfsame army and would now take a job from any party so long as monetary incentive was provided, or at least, that's how I imagined the soldiers might have viewed him when Yilie first announced that they'd be supported by a mercenary company. Iroh and Lu Ten had never accepted contracts from mercenary bands. They commanded the respect, the love, the obedience of their Fire Nation comrades, but mercenaries. Them, they couldn't control. I imagined that's how many of these soldiers may have viewed us when we first came along. As loose-cannons, as rabid dogs, as worse, traitors.

Now however, I don't think that mattered to anyone anymore. It wasn't pre-considered dispositions. It wasn't about what one's opinions may have been. It was about one thing. Survival. Their survival, and that of their families down below living in a town that was being bombarded from ashore. The sooner victory was secured here, the sooner their families could be saved.

So we formed up, and like a spearpoint penetrating a pig's underbelly, we charged the selfsame gap we mad made in the line moments before to allow Boss through. He led us through the same weakness, not allowing a single opportunity to be wasted. He drew first blood, shoving the point of his spear in the side of the nearest earthbender before he could even think to manipulate the terrain to his advantage, bringing him to his knees as a Fire Nation soldier's spear was shoved into his chest, ending the man's life.

I ducked in time to evade a flying disk of earth flying at me as a Fire Nation soldier behind me sliced at the culprit's belly, spilling his insides on the ash-black ground of the mountain below us. An Earth Kingdom spearmen moved in to avenge the bender, but I ended his attempt, cutting his spear right below the hilt, rendering his weapon a splintered staff, allowing the same Fire Nation soldier to slice the man below the knee, dropping him before finishing him off. I turned around to my left side now, watching as an earthbender moved in to finish off a Fire Nation soldier who had fallen to the ground, hovering a mass of earth above the poor man's head.

I sliced upwards below the bender's elbow, severing his left arm. The boulder fell harmlessly to the man's side, and I finished off the earthbender with a quick cut to his neck, helping the friendly soldier up as an allied swordsman halted an Earth Kingdom's soldier charge towards us, parrying his sword to the left, reacting quick enough with his limited opening to shove the point of his sword into the Earth Kingdom soldier's chest.

And so we kept up our advance charging ever forward, a new fervor among the men as our formation remained unbroken, headed at the front by somebody who I was now starting to realize was slowly becoming the Fire Nation's closest ally. We were doing more now to serve our Nation than we ever had as conscripted men. In Ba Sing Se, the most we'd ever done was capture a farmhouse, or help to take over an enemy trench line. Since then, we've destroyed an Earth Kingdom destroyer, we've helped a starving fishing village against a threat of pirates, and now stood here defending a Fire Nation fortification against an Earth Kingdom naval task force. Whether we won or lost here, our involvement in this war had truly begun the day we left.

I'd had my doubts, leaving the Fire Nation. Yu Dao had been my home, the chief of Fire Nation colonies. I was a patriot damnit. These were my people; the Fire Nation was my country. I joined the army by my own choice, not by draft because I wanted to play my part to defend my people. Were we the invaders? Yes. Was it our birthright to claim the Earth Kingdom? Despite what they taught us in schools, no. Was it "right"? No. But since the Fire Nation had started taken over the Earth Kingdom, they'd exterminated the regional corruption, ending a reign of warlords within the Earth Kingdom who were loyal to nobody but themselves. They'd raised the prosperity of all people in the region. Was there still class division? Yes. But if the Earth Kingdom were to win this war, to reclaim these colonies, they would leave no survivors. They'd either force all men, women, and children to leave their homes or become enemies of the state, killed on sight. So was it defense? Yes. And I had worried that by abandoning the Fire Nation, I had abandoned them, but as I was here, alongside this same man who had encouraged me to leave the Fire Nation now fighting for it more than ever before, truly defending those who the Earth Kingdom stood poised to exterminate, I was now able to realize that I was where I had always meant to be. The army had its appeal, but it was here, making an actual difference, where I was meant to be.

We had carved a line through the battlefield to the destroyed catapults, but a thankfully mostly intact supply of blasting jelly, dodging Earth Kingdom boulders raining from the heavens above. We had only sustained one casualty: A Fire Nation soldier whose chest had been ripped apart by an Earth Kingdom disk that had travelled faster than an unladen swallow.

"Bring two barrels to the edge of the mountain!" Boss ordered as two soldiers readily grabbed the first barrels, they could get their hands on as the other 6 of us provided cover, rolling the barrels to the edge of the cliff. "Zek!" he yelled to me, throwing me a piece of flint to catch. "Light them for 2 seconds. Push the barrel off the exact moment you light it!" _2 seconds. Didn't leave a lot of room for comfort there. _All the same, I nodded, knowing what had to be done. The barrels were on the edge, and the soldiers who had been rolling them returned to the rearguard, defending Boss and me as we stood by the two barrels, directly below us, the earthen turtle shells shrouding the artillery gun's line of fire. I could already hear the sounds of combat still coming from below. _Gordez is down there. And deeper down, within the castle, is Ka'lira. I only prayed that the battle hadn't come to her. _

I snapped out of it then and turned to Boss who was already looking to me, waiting for the sign that I was ready. I was. And in that moment, we lit the fuses at the line that represented 2 seconds. The fuse lit, I pushed, it fell, and I dived behind me to the ground, my ears becoming a ring not a moment later, dirt, stone, mud, and ash all raining down on me. I turned to my right to see that Boss was there, still alive. The barrels had dropped. I got up, a constant hum still ringing through my ears. I made my way to the edge of the cliff just in time to watch the last large shard of the shell break from the wall and fall to the sea, crashing into the bow of the Earth Kingdom warship, crushing the final ballistae, dropping its last grappling hook, tearing off another chunk of the cliff edge, crashing back to the warship causing even more havoc as it tore a hole in the vessel's hull, the first of many blows this ship would take.

I couldn't hear a word coming out of Boss's mouth, but as 2 soldiers grabbed a final barrel, holding it between them, I knew that the final stage of the plan had begun. I found my sword on my side, unsheathing it as I joined the formation now gathered around the 2 soldiers carrying the final barrel of jelly between the two of them.

_The Iron Ram's _artillery fire had ceased for the time being, still recovering from the damage dealt to the bow, but it resumed soon enough, taking one more of our men and an Earth Kingdom soldier in a single explosion as the two battled. I could nearly guarantee that Fong's indiscriminate targeting had killed more of his own men than our own. It made me wonder what horrors were happening below us, by the town of Jiaozai. I could already envision the burning boulders raining atop tower, home, hospital, tavern, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation soldiers, men, women, children too, meteor showers raining down on all alike.

I snapped out of it, blocking the blow of an Earth Kingdom swordsmen, locking blades as a Fire Nation swordsman dug his spear into the man's side, dropping him. I removed my sword, slicing a straight diagonal across the chest of a man who had been stalking behind the selfsame Fire Nation soldier, ready to avenge his comrade. Finally, we had made it to the tunnel. 3 soldiers stayed behind to guard the entrance as me, Boss, and the two bearing the jelly entered the tunnel.

A good portion of the tunnel appeared to be clear, up ahead of us, a skirmish between the remnants of the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom soldiers in this tunnel system. Boss and I rushed ahead just as a Fire Nation soldier was tossed to the ceiling by the floor of the tunnel moving beneath him, coming back down with nothing but the soldier's bloody remains. Yilie was knocked aside, his chest battered with the blunt of an earthbender's hammer as his last guardsmen was knocked the ground as well. Boss, ahead of me, plunged his sword into the earthbender's side, pulling it out with just enough time to score a final slice across the man's neck as sliced off the arm of the earthbender readying to finish off the guardsmen, giving the friendly soldier ample time to recover his spear and, from below, plunge it into the man's stomach as I jumped ahead, parrying a hostile spear and sword, slicing through the rightmost swordsman's stomach and plunging it into the spearman's side.

I turned to see Boss helping Yilie up as the governor said, "You came just in time. Thanks for the assist."

"Where's Gordez?"

"Right up ahead."

Right up ahead, deeper in the tunnel, was Gordez, an Earth Kingdom Warhammer in hand, smashing it across the face of an earthbender as another poised an attack, siphoning the tunnel walls behind him, ready to throw Gordez into the sea. Boss was already sprinting ahead, and just in time, tackled into the earthbender, the stones falling around the two of them as Gordez brought down the hammer on the face of the bender Boss had brought down, promptly giving his old friend a helping hand up by the time I had reached them, the 2 Fire Nation soldiers directly behind us wielding the blasting jelly between the two of them.

"You got my bender?"

"Our bender's dealing with the second Earth Kingdom ship that just came in."

Gordez's split-second expression of severity was all we would get from him until a second later, he shot right back into the motion. "Fine. Get the jelly in the firing mechanisms. 2 handfuls each. Big handfuls. You can wash them later."

The soldier's unsealed the lid of the barrel as Boss and I reached in, both of us taking out two heaping handfuls each, shoving them into the triggers that on any normal occasion, two firebenders would have blasted into. "You two!" Gordez yelled at the two soldiers. "Load a shell into the barrel now!"

And so they did as Boss and I shoved in the final two handfuls. The second such was done, Gordez was already manning the gun, altering its firing course, aiming directly downwards to the upper deck of _The Iron Ram, _directly beneath the main bridge, a shot that would hopefully collapse the superstructure and strike the engine.

"Fire!" Gordez yelled.

And so, the fuses were lit, travelling into the firing mechanism as we stood back and waited, until the tunnel exploded into a violent yellow light as the gun fired, and we all watched as the deck of _The Iron Ram _exploded into a blaze of red, orange, and gold, a second explosion igniting moments later within the decks by the engine, spreading the carnage even further.

"Reload!"

We stuck to our respective jobs as the gun was prepped once more, ready to fire 15 seconds later before the effects of the first strike could even finish their spread.

"Fire!"

A second shot was fired, igniting another explosion within the decks, directly below the command structure, collapsing it as the iron support beams snapped and the wood crackled into ash, splintering at every point, the command structure collapsing forward onto the main deck, snapping through the deck's wooden structure, sinking deeper into the vessel as, like ants from a crushed anthill, the crew attempted to flee the carnage.

"Reload!"

We did, not a second to think otherwise.

"Fire!"

We fired.

And the shell, in one last blast of brilliance, detonated, and the sea spurted up into the ship, and with one final series of creaks and snaps, the vessel split into two, the bow weighed down by the shards of the turtle shell, sinking forward, the catapult emplacements scraping against the decks as they fell into the sea, crashing into an poor sod unfortunate enough to have been placed in front of them.

The stern followed moments later, the last of the crew, burning alive, dived into the sea, only to drown moments later, weighed to the sea floor by the armor they had donned to protect themselves.

And in one final act of irony, the iron ram of the _Iron Ram _was the last portion of the ship to sink beneath the green waves, the figurehead the last remnant we ever saw of _The Iron Ram _as any remains of the Earth Kingdom invasion sunk beneath the cold and unforgiving sea.

Above us, the sounds of the war were coming to their ends. We rushed up to finish what was left of the encounter to witness as any and all surviving forces laid down their arms in a final act of surrender.

The fire had stopped falling from the sky. The battle had ended here. And as the ash began to clear from the sky, I rushed into the tunnels of the castle once more, past the corpses of friend and foe alike, past Earth Kingdom prisoners being escorted away, past Fire Nation wounded being carried off or helped to their feet. I sped up the turret of the tower, becoming more and more terrified by how far the bodies went, all the way up to the governor's own personal quarters.

I wasted no time knocking.

I knocked the door from its very hinges, breaking the damn thing as I shoved my way inside, to be met by a single unified sight. In front of me, on the floor that I fell onto, the bloodied corpse of an Earth Kingdom soldier, and above them, as I made my way to my feet, a woman and child, Yilie's family, and in front of them, holding a sword to my face, the new reason I had found to fight, the new reason I had found to fight for a better word.

"Ka'lira"

"Zek!"

The sword fell to the ground with a metallic clang as she rushed to me, throwing her arms around me as I was still on my knees in the process of rising. I let my own weapon fall to the ground as I threw my arms around her, not caring about anything else in the world, not the other Earth Kingdom ship, not what Yilie's plan next was, not the prisoners, not the dead, not the wounded, not the man Ka'lira had killed to fulfill her duty, not the battle ahead, not any of it. The battle I cared about was over, and so I squeezed her with all strength that was still left in me, and it wasn't much. It was over. It was all okay.

**Luke**

Heading down the island's lone mountain, atop which I had been fighting for my life mere moments ago, I could already see the chaos emerging from the beachhead, and the small town that neighbored it.

The Earth Kingdom warship was parked around 50 meters from the shore, still emitting landing craft that were heading towards the defenseless town en masse, raining down boulder after boulder on the wooden and straw huts, leaving nothing to chance, clearly intent on leaving nothing but a heap of rubble in its wake. Something told me this was where I'd find the Captain. Fong was his name. Described as an Earth Kingdom nationalist, a glory hound, a man seeking to do whatever it took to win. Something I knew about all too well.

I was manning the gunner position of the tank while Jadoh was permitted to drive and the messenger took the copilot seat.

I could already see the new clouds of smoke, of soot and ash rising from the town as flaming boulders rained down upon civilians who knew nothing of this war. Nothing of politics, of any of these things, yet who always somehow managed to eb the first victims of war.

I was back in Stone's Edge at that moment, surrounded by the screaming, the suffering that I had caused, the people I had killed. As I watched ahead as the fires burned and spread, consuming little ants of people in their flames, I could almost see myself there as well, the source of all this pain and suffering.

I hadn't worn my helmet that day. I wanted to see it all, the flames, the suffering, the death. It made me feel good, the monster that I am. Today though, as the memories came back, I was glad to have my helmet on. I didn't want them to see my face. I didn't want to see theirs. I was safe in there. They couldn't see me, and I couldn't see them. It was better that way. I knew what I was, and so did they. The less I confused them into thinking I was human like them, the better.

The black sky had now encompassed us, the fog of war now encircling the mass of the island in full. The flames could still be seen in the distance as we drew ever closer like the sunlight at the end of a cave. And in such the same way, that was where we were headed.

We passed the first building, a small hut that had been blown apart by a lucky catapult's boulder. We carried on, a housing complex that had been lit aflame by another boulder that had missed, yet still spread its flames. I could hear the cracking of the wood to my left as we passed the engulfed hobble.

There was no hope of seeing the Earth Kingdom warship anymore. The coast was sealed from our vision by a wall of black soot and rising ash. I looked down to see how Jadoh's view of the road was. Yet when I looked down, all I could see was the fear plastered on their faces. The horror. Jadoh, who had never seen war before, had never seen the suffering it brought, and the unnamed messenger, who was watching his own town be engulfed by flames around him, wondering if his house was still standing.

Another reason I was glad to have a helmet surrounding my head, so they couldn't see how little this meant to me now. How accustomed I had become to this sight, how I myself had been the one to start such fires. How, not long ago, I had been the thing I was now seeking to destroy, the one who started the fires, the one who broke apart families, slaughtered them in front of their loved ones.

Though the dead had been silent for what felt like an eternity now, I could still hear them. Still hear their screams. Their cries. They screamed when they saw me. They screamed when I saw them. They screamed even as they burnt.

And now, they were all dead. And I was alive.

I knelt in front of what remained of Stone's Edge, a killer, a murderer.

_What the hell had I done?_

We were deeper in the town of Jiaozai now, the flames all around us, families fleeing, running blindly in the smoke, lost, seeking to go anywhere else in the world that wasn't here.

In front of us, a wall of fire rising from the earth itself. I didn't bother getting into the tank. I could take it. We pushed through the flames, the fire cowering around me, not daring to approach, like so many others.

We were in the town proper now, a literal hell surrounding us. A hell I was no stranger to. A hell I'd started more often than not. I made sure my visor was in place on my helmet, the white skull facemask a perfect sign of what I was. Death. Something that would never change.

I unsheathed my sword, and jumped from the tank, landing to the ground and swinging at the first Earth Kingdom soldier I saw, swinging through the small of his back, cutting through, turning to plant a stream of fire into his chest, bringing him to ground in a growing inferno.

_Shanzi _had come to a stop, seeing I'd dismounted, and I watched the hatch doors opened as the rest of the crew readied themselves to continue the fight. Up ahead, an earthbender had just destroyed the door of a small hut with a sizeable boulder and was making his way in. I grabbed him before he could enter the hobble, pulling him backwards, shoving my sword into his chest, letting his body slide off of the blade. Another flaming boulder came down. I rushed ahead where an earthbender who had noticed me was preparing his own projectile to hurt at me. I ducked, dodging it, rushing forward, throwing a stream of fire into him, igniting the soldier, and pushing him backwards until I brought my sword to his neck, ending his incrementing suffering.

_Shanzi's _screw were continuing the fight on their own. I didn't concern myself with them. I continued forward, towards one place, slowly but surely, the sea, fully intent on ending this blight at its source. And that was until I heard the screams. The screams I hadn't stopped hearing since all those months ago. The screams I hadn't been able to silence then but had the chance to silence now. I took the detour, heading deeper into the streets, slicing through the leg of un unwary Earth Kingdom soldier who was lighting a straw hut aflame with a torch, dropping him to the ground, serving him his own medicine as I turned and threw a small bolt of fire towards him, igniting the man where he lay on the ground writhing in pain.

An earthbender found me amidst my rampage, raising a pillar from the ground to send towards me that broke into a thousand tiny shards mid-motion as my own flames overpowered the structure, breaking through and striking the man where he fell to his knees until I brought my blade to his neck, ending his connection to the world. I could still hear the screams. The screams of the people I'd killed. _They were dead. Why? Why did they still scream?!_

Ahead, I saw them. A mother and child. _I killed a mother and child before. _An earthbender stood above them, a hammer in hand. I stalked forward, brought my sword up to shove it through his back. Just another foe. I didn't move to kill him because of what nationality he represented, because he was a threat to the innocent, but because he existed to kill me in this moment, and I to kill him.

The man turned before I could plant my sword through his back to erupt from his chest. He brought his hammer around, and the next moment I was on the ground. The girl screamed. _No. Why would you scream? You should be cheering. The monster is about to die. I'm the monster. _

I could feel something trickling down the side of my head. It was warm. I was on the ground. I could only see the dirt in front of me. No. I could hardly even see that. The helmet. It didn't fit right. It was bent. It was blocking my sight. I can't see anything. I reached up to remove the damn thing, and so I did, and could see and hear again, finally. And I heard the girl scream. _She was screaming for me. _I heard the man behind me. I heard his feet shift; I heard his roar.

I rolled, the hammer fell to the ground, crushing the ground beneath where my head had been moments ago, and I shot my fire into the sky, into the man, no number of armored protective layers able to save him. I recovered my sword on the ground, reached up to plunge it into his heart, and he fell, dead, and I rose.

The mother and child were still huddled there, fresh tears running down their faces. I looked at them. And they looked at me, but this time, it wouldn't be the last thing they would see. This time, it wouldn't be the face of the man who would kill them. Not anymore. Never again.

"Thank you"

And they ran. And the screaming continued. It wasn't in my head anymore. It wasn't the constant voice banging around my helmet, echoing back into my ears time and time again. It was the man who had been shoved to the ground as a spearman readied to pierce her throat, the girl who was being yanked out of their home, the boy crying as his home fell to pieces around him.

I flexed my grip on my sword. And for the first time in months since that day had occurred, I knew what I had to do. I knew why I was here.

I walked to the spearman and girl, slicing through his spear, rendering him unarmed, shoving him to the ground with my left hand as I brought my sword down into his neck as the woman ran off. I found the home that the girl was being pulled out of as the earthbender readied himself to have his way with her in the center of the burning town square. I reached them, planting my hand around his neck, shoving him away as I planted my sword into his stomach, driving him further off away, shoving him to the ground, before yelling at the girl to run. I found the burning house, the hovel collapsing in on itself. I dropped my sword, reaching both hands out to control the flames, to let them die out, redirect them away while nearing the house, bending the flames away from where the screaming boy was. I entered the burning structure, rising a collapsed beam with my right arm while warding off the flames with my left, pausing for a single second to offer my left arm to the boy, who took it, allowing me to pull him out from beneath his collapsing home, returning him to safety, to anywhere that wasn't there. I recovered my sword and carried on.

Further ahead, I could see where the tavern had been. A burning boulder had fallen through the roof. The flames were spreading. I ran there, bending the flames away from the straw as I burst into the door. An earthbender and a standard soldier were lining up the folk gathered there for the slaughter. I reached for my sword, slicing through the back of the soldier as the bender turned towards me, bending a boulder out from beneath the tavern's wooden floors, splintering the foundation beneath us, hurling it towards me as I destroyed the projectile mid-air, ducking beneath the rubble, slicing a clean cut through his chest as he fell to the ground, and I yelled at the people to leave the place.

Outside, the slaughter was carrying on. Untrained town security, local militia in all but name, were trying as hard as they might to ward off their town's invaders, despite how little use it was. I could see Jadoh now, and the messenger, joining the fight, and so I rushed forward too, throwing a ball of fire at a man who stood poised to hurtle a sizeable disk at Jadoh, downing the man, and I finished him off with a clean slice through the nape of his neck.

Jadoh continued forward, saving a town militiaman, planting a shortsword through an Earth Kingdom bowman's back as the messenger fired an arrow at an earthbender standing atop an aflame home, raining down shards of earth upon us. The battle was approaching ever closer to the sea now as the town was cleared slowly but surely of the invading threat. By the docks, where soldiers were continuously landing, more and more people were being continuously slaughtered by the invading earthbenders. I threw a bolt of fire at an earthbender a-ways away who was in the process of drowning a fisherman in the sea by the face down. His grip died all at once as the fire took him over, and he fell over the docks, into the water. I sprinted forward, slicing through the entire body of an accompanying soldier, splitting him in two as I pulled the fisherman from the water, stabbing into the water to finish off the Earth Kingdom soldier before the sea took him, shoving the fisherman away from the sea further into the town where it had already been cleared.

Jadoh, on a different dock, alongside the messenger and a number of other militiamen, were clearing their side, enabling me to have cover as I proceeded down the wooden gangway to clear as much of the way as I could, to do whatever I could to defend the people who had never asked for this war to be delivered to their doorstep.

So I continued forth, a spearman charging towards me. As I showered him in fire, the spear splintered and broke into a million pieces in his arm as he writhed and pain, falling off of the dock into the water, already dead. Behind him, an archer took aim and loosed his arrow, missing as I dodged right, and fired a bolt that penetrated straight through his armor, burning a hole so deep that light could be seen emitting through him from the other side.

A swordsman, rising from his landing craft that had just docked was kicked back into his craft by me, into the men behind them, stumbling backwards, as I stood above them, lighting the lot of them in the same put, carrying on as I reached the end of my dock, and as I turned over to see to my left, Jadoh and the militia had done with theirs.

And so, all that was ahead of us, was the final Earth Kingdom vessel, still emitting its landing craft, still raining down fire upon us. I had no idea at that moment of how this would come to an end with a favorable outcome. I had no idea either what was happening to Boss, to Zek, Gordez, any of them. They could be dead for all I knew. When I'd left, that castle had been on the verge of falling. For all I knew, it was gone. _It changes nothing. _Either way, I'd hold my ground, and from what I saw with the militiamen around me, they would do the same. These were their people. This was their home, and they were all ready to die for it.

And that was then, along the horizon, a gray steel vessel, a Fire Nation destroyer, but not just any, _The Patriot, _came into view, and from it, an explosion erupted, and moments later, aboard the Earth Kingdom vessel. It shook, and so did the waves. Seconds later, another blast fired, missing the vessel. The Earth Kingdom warship attempted to return fire to no avail. _The Patriot _was out of range. What the hell were we firing. _The Patriot _fired once more, hitting the vessel's hull, and it had now begun to list, turning away from the fight, readying its retreat.

The Earth Kingdom transports were dead in the water, not knowing whether to turn back and try to catch up with their mothership, or risk landing. After a moment of consideration, they continued forward, possessing the advantage of numbers, at least, they did until the clamor of hundreds of feet were heard behind us, and Yilie's forces had come to reinforce this front, and at their head, Boss, Ka'lira, and Zek, while Gordez, as I could imagine, was aboard _The Patriot, _bringing hell to the Earth Kingdom vessel that, after sustaining one last blast, was retreating to the setting sun, defeated.

The transports had no other choice now, a new reinforced front blocking their advance, and _The Patriot, _their retreat. The flag of surrender was raised from one transport, then another, and another, and their weapons were dropped into the sea below, both as a show of surrender, and a way of not giving them to us, a double edged sword, but one we could live with. The battle had ended, and the island of Jianghe, had survived, and its people along with it.

**Boss**

The last transport had been secured, and the last group of Earth Kingdom soldiers were in binders, being escorted off to the castle they had been set to invade mere moments ago.

The wounded were being escorted away, being driven up the mountain side by _Shanzi. _Below, the intact were helping to repair the town, both civilian and soldier alike. Luke was extinguishing what fires remained around the city, leading the rescue team to search for survivors amongst the rubble. He was actively talking now. Sending soldiers to one house for another, asking for help, you name it. He had a new purpose now. One that was driving him. And for a change, it was one most welcome.

Gordez was mooring in _The Patriot, _and the 3-man crew of Gordez, and two technicians that had been provided by Yilie, were already providing relief, transporting by sea those who were too injured to take to the castle by land.

Jadoh's role was to be going through the remaining stranding structures to scour for supplies. Zek was working alongside him, mostly to trying to ascertain the stability of said buildings to see if they were fit for providing temporary shelter.

I was helping Yilie coordinate the efforts, and even managed to see Jadoh catch a moment with Zek and Ka'lira, apologizing for what had occurred the day prior. "Hey. Look. About yesterday. Sorry about that. I was being stupid. I was acting like it was all about me. Like this was my chance to prove myself, but I guess, after just seeing what it's like-"

"You realize it's not about any of us," Zek said.

"Y-yeah. Pretty much. Just. Look. I'm sorry. To both of you. I see now though what it's about. How it's not about any of us, but what we're trying to do. I see that. And. I'm sorry."

The two looked to each other, both Zek and Ka'lira, and promptly burst into laughter, dismissing the entire struggle as though it were some mere childhood dispute that had occurred centuries ago. And for all intents and purposes, it had. "You're fine, Jadoh," said Ka'lira. "Oh yeah. I'm used to dealing with dipshits anyway. Not, like you are one, that is."

His smile was now starting to transfer to Jadoh who had been stunned at first by their initial reaction to his apology. "I kinda was one, wasn't I?"

"More than kinda," corrected Ka'lira.

"But anyway. It's fine. With how much time we're gonna be spending together, I'm sure we'll learn to get along."

"I hope so."

"And it'll also give me more than enough time to get back at you."

I smiled and turned away. The sun was almost set. The smoke that had shrouded the island earlier today was finally beginning to dissipate. The fighting on Jianghe really was over. For now, at least. I wouldn't expect a man like Fong to just sit back and watch a military defeat be dangled in front of him, baiting him on. Then again, I'd been wrong about Fong before. He hadn't even shown his face during the fight. _Was he on a later transport? Was he among the countless mangled bodies that we'd buried over the last few hours? _There was no way to tell.

We spent that night in the ruins of the town, and I was called up to Yilie's office back in his castle tower the following morning. So Gordez, who he had for some reason asked for in particular, as well as I, made our ways up to said tower at 0900 the following day.

"First thing's first," he said. "Your payment."

He slid over a good number of bags laden with gold and silver pieces. "I would give you more, but our coffers are a bit empty at the moment. But the real payment isn't cash anyway. I've made sure that the Fire Nation has already heard of the shit storm that went down here. They're already en route with more supplies and manpower: soldiers, bows, swords, spears, armor especially, catapults, and even more artillery guns. I looked through out armories, we don't need most of this stuff. Except the troops of course, and frankly, I think this island will be able to hold its own for a while especially with the Fire Lord's latest generous donation. I'd like to offer you everything we have. Our food, all that we won't need to last until the next supply comes, our medicine that we don't need, our water, I think we have a purifier anyway around here we can donate, our swords, bows, spears, armor, all of it. I want to give you our artillery battery as well. The way we saw it tear that ship apart last afternoon, I shudder to think how I'd feel on the opposite end of that barrage. It's yours.

Gordez in particular was rendered completely agape by the donation. "Wh-Wh. Th-Thank you, governor. The edge it'll give us. It's. It's. It's great. Thank you."

"Don't mention it. The way you moved that ship yesterday…you deserve it, which brings me to my second point. What did you think of the engineers I gave to you? Gordez moment of severe flustering had ended in the blink of an eye.

"The engineers." He turned to me. I said nothing. It was his ship, his assessment. He turned back to Yilie and swallowed. "The engineers." He paused. "They're untrained, sloppy, clumsy, and on they're own, I wouldn't trust them to keep the ship afloat."

Yilie signed, rendering me confused as to whether his disappointment resided with Gordez, me, himself, or his engineers, but Gordez wasn't done. "However, with the right training, with the right person keeping his eyes on them at all times, showing them the ropes, I think they would become real assets. Because as it stands now, and no offense, Boss, I'd trust them with the ship more than anybody else I know."

Yilie smiled. "Good then. They like you, and they've asked to serve under you."

"I figured as much."

"It seems you did. So is that a 'yes'?"

"Yes."

"Then they're yours. Treat 'em well."

Gordez nodded. "Thank you, sir, should I? Should I-"

"You can go. I need to talk with your 'Boss' anyway."

Gordez nodded, turning to leave the unguarded office, past the point where two guards would have been guarding the door, spears crossed, on any other occasion.

"Which leaves the third matter," continued Yilie the moment after the door closed.

"Which is," I asked.

Yilie readjusted his weight in the seat, breathed in, and out, finally saying, "As a Fire Nation governor, I have clearance to distribute contracts of prolonged service to mercenary units. I was wondering if you would take it. You'd receive a consistent flow of income, of funds. You'd be given full flexibility to act to serve the Fire Nation however you see fit, but you will be asked to attach to units and follow orders from commanders. But your safety will be secure, and your fortune just as much. Just looking at you, I can already tell you'd be more than fair competition for the Rough Rhinos. So what do you say?"

And so the offer, the choice, the same one I'd been running through my head so many times. To return to the Fire Nation, but to make choices as I saw fit. It had been my dream ever since I'd decided to leave the Southern Raiders. To serve my country my way. The **right **way, but whenever I had considered this in my head, the same counterargument had always stood in my way. And that was why I'd done this in the first place. In Ba Sing Se, after the leadership had collapsed, I watched my own allies becomes savages, rapists, murderers, all wearing the colors I bore. It was the reason I had decided to leave. Not to make an enemy of all, but to not put restrictions on those I could help. If I took Yilie's offer here, any and all people who happened to not fall under the Fire Nation's jurisdiction would be lost to us, left to rot, and suffer on their own. That wasn't why I had done this. That's not why I had left everything else behind.

"Thank you, Governor, but I'm afraid I have to refuse. I didn't leave the Fire Nation to return to it, and I don't want to run the risk of becoming the kind of people I'd watched too many people in the past become."

"People like your firebender?"

I supposed he had seen enough of the kid to know. I nodded.

"I figured. War, sadly, will do that. You have a unique ability of managing to pull these kinds of people up from the ground. You know he didn't sleep last night? Spent the whole night searching for more survivors. Found 32 all in different buildings. Not all made it, sadly, but you've got a good one there. Hold on to him tight or I might make him an offer he can't refuse."

"I plan to. He's a good man."

"He's a good kid. And as much as it saddens me to see children raised by war, I've a good feeling about him, and I can see that you do too. And I trust your judgement. So keep your kid, and don't return to us as a soldier yet again. I understand."

"Even if it means we may cross paths?"

"Even if so. And I pray if we meet on the field, you go easy on me. You're a good warrior, but you're a better soldier. And thankfully, I don't think we'll be crossing paths."

"It's a big war and a small world. I wouldn't be too sure."

"But I would. Because as much as you say the contrary, you love your country and the people it defends. You may cross paths with some Fire Nation from time to time, but I know. No matter how hard you try to find it, you'll never fully alienate yourself from your country"

And sadly, he was correct. To deny it would be fruitless. I nodded, and he smiled. A calm smile. A tired one. "Then get going 'Boss', your people need you."

"Thank you, governor Yilie. For everything." I turned to leave, heading straight for the door.

"And before you go," he called out, stopping me as I began to open the door, "A lead for your next job. A nearby Earth Kingdom town, Jingping, south of the Nip sea, just got caught in a battle between Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom. Both sides have pulled back, leaving the town an essential crater. If you want to do some good, then that's your place. And thank you. For saving my island, my people, and my family. You're good people."

"And so are you. Thank you, governor Yilie. It's been a pleasure."

And with that, our payment in my arms, I returned to _The Patriot _just as it finished being loaded for its next voyage.

And so, that evening, we left with the sitting sun to our stern, one day behind us, and another straight ahead, and I knew that, as we left one war behind, a new one had just begun, and for once, I knew that we knew our place in this new world for which we sailed.


	15. Chapter 12: To Serve The World

**Jadoh**

Zek twisted his torso to the right, both of his feet still facing towards me, adding additional strength to his swing as he, mid swing, switched his attack to a lunge. I thought I might try deflecting the blow but knew I wouldn't be able to raise my own sword in time, so rather, I dodged right, allowing his thrust to strike air. I brought up my weapon to try and strike a blow against his own sword, but he brought it back in time so as my slight swing missed. It was fine. I had not invested too much strength into it and so was easily able to move back into a ready position, the blade in good defensive position. _Who would strike next? Me, or him?_

I watched him. "Read your opponent," I remember hearing Boss say. "Analyze every detail of the man trying to kill you from his limbs to his torso to his face. Read them right, and all will tell you what he plans on doing next."

I watched. Looked into his eyes. He was focusing, his eyes darting around me, looking for an opening, so it would not be a surprise when he attacked, but rather, when. And so he did. Lunging forward, he swung at my right side, I moved to defend with all my might, no, wait, he moved back. It was a ruse. His transition from a right strike to a left one was nigh completely fluid, and before I knew it, he had his blade moving for my exposed left side.

My blade still to my right, ready to defend against Zek's fake blow, I used my right hand to propel my blade to my left side. It wouldn't be as accurate, but I wasn't hoping for accuracy. All I needed was for my blade to get in between his and me.

And so, it managed to suffice, and the clacking of the two sticks told me through closed eyes of prayer that I was still standing. He brought his stick back to a practice position, ready to go for his next blow, but despite the exhaustion already beginning to wave through me, I decided it best to throw him off his guard, and so lunged forward.

It was true, he hadn't been expecting it. He managed to deflect my stab at his chest. My blade off to the side now, seeing Zek's own weapon coming towards me in a rightmost arc, I ducked, the practice sword swinging over my head. I now brought my own blade towards his legs, where I was in the perfect position to hit him. Unfortunately, Zek was quicker than I, and deflected the blade. I was at a disadvantage now, in a kneeling position on the ground.

I threw myself backward so as to avoid his upward slice that would have knocked me from under my chin had I been in the same position I'd been in just half a second ago. My balance was off, and I barely maintained my grip on my sword. He swung left, I blocked. He swung upwards, I managed to block too. He swung left again, and I managed to block, just barely. His onslaught was not letting up and I was on the defensive, taking more and more steps backward barely maintaining my footing until, just as he swung again to my right, and I was unable to block it, but rather, dodged backwards, my legs gave way, and I could feel them surrender to the conditions beneath me. I fell backwards, tucking my head into my chest, readying for the impact until I only heard my sword fall, and opened my eyes to see Zek's hand grabbing my own, saving me from the fall that awaited.

"You surrender?"

I sighed. "Yes."

"So you concede defeat?"

I smiled in annoyed bemusement, uttering, "Yes. I concede."

"And so admit you're a pussy-ass bitch?"

My smile grew into a devious grin now as I tucked my head in, preparing for the impact that awaited as I said, "Suck a cock."

The hand let go, and I fell the last 2 feet to the cold metal ground beneath me. I'd been expecting the impact. There was no pain to be had, jus some slight annoyance. This hadn't exactly been the first time this had happened."

"Round 13 goes to Zek," yelled Boss. "Again."

"Thank you, Boss! Real helpful!" I exclaimed as I rose to my feet.

"You fell for his feint."

"You told me to try to read my opponent. Everything said he would attack."

Boss approached me, a towel in hand, throwing it to me as he said, "The author can always write a lie. You have to read deep enough to see what is and what isn't the truth."

"Something you need to do too," said Zek. "I'll give you this, your sudden attack there definitely struck me by surprise, but in an effort to get me off guard, you sacrificed your defense, threw yourself off balance, and eventually sealed your fate."

"And you tried relying on a trait you don't have," said Gordez who had appeared out of nowhere. "You're strength. No offense, but you don't have enough muscle so as to overwhelm any of us as of yet. You have speed though. Use it."

"So you came out just to watch?"

"Of course I did. I needed some fresh air after being in that damn engine room for so long."

"I was under the impression you'd carved out a nice little hovel down there for yourself. I assumed you were right at home," said Zek.

"Oh I was, but I'm not exactly the most enthusiastic about the houseguests."

"The newbies giving you some grief?" I asked.

"Hey. Careful with the word, 'newbie', you're still second-newest."

"So what the fuck is Ka'lira?"

"A lady," answered Zek. "And we respect ladies aboard this vessel."

"Oh now that's a fucking lie," said Ka'lira who had, last I seen, been reading a book, not paying too much attention to the fighting. "You're just worried I'll kick your ass if you talk out of line."

"That too," acknowledged Zek.

I was waiting for Boss to say something until I saw that Gordez was speaking to him in what seemed to be private. Boss motioned him to wait and he turned to me and Zek, who was cooling off, drinking some water, and said, "You two. Up for round 14?"

"Always," said Zek with unbridled enthusiasm, closing his flask of water and dropping it to the ground, unsheathing his practice stick.

"Is that really necessary at this point?" I asked. Believe it or not, I wasn't in the best mood to have my ass handed to me once more. And it was still the morning.

"Yes. We'll go up to 15 for this afternoon. This time, I want you to play on the defensive. Only take calculated risks. Play on your strengths, not your weaknesses, and don't get fooled by your opponent. If you feel you can, try clouding your own pages. You don't want to be read. Now go."

I sighed, wiping my hair back, allowing the droplets of sweat to drop to the ground. "And Ka'lira!" I heard Boss say. She shot to attention. "Yes, Boss?"

"Mind bringing up some water to Luke and checking on him? Make sure he's still breathing?"

"Got it."

She went about her task, and I to mine, taking one last gulp of water, unsheathing my blade, and readying myself for the humiliation that inevitably awaited me.

**Boss**

The sounds of the wooden conflict behind me raged on as I turned to Gordez, asking, "So there was something you wanted to talk about?"

"Yes. I was looking at the maps this morning while dumb and dumber shoveled the coal, and, I admit, I have my concerns. It's the perfect point for a blockade around the Nip sea. And, you'll have to forgive me, but after Jianghe, I have my concerns about blockades."

"Very understandable, so your opinion?"

"My opinion is that we shouldn't go."

I turned back to look at Zek and Jadoh still going about their sparring and decided this would best be a conversation had elsewhere. I started walking towards the main superstructure of the ship and Gordez followed. When we were within the superstructure, I decided to resume the conversation, "We can't **not **go. You heard what Yilie said: the town just got caught between Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom forces. We know all too well what happens to places like that."

"I do know. Just like you said. Too well, but you know the geography as well as I do. If we get caught in the Nip Sea, we'll be surrounded. Fire Nation to the North, Earth Kingdom to the South."

"Sounds like the perfect place to find work then."

"Or the perfect place to be blown apart by either side's artillery, and judging by the ship we're in, I think I can start placing bets."

"We take that risk wherever we go anyway,"

"Yes. And we always just barely make it out by the skin of our teeth. What I'm saying is, I think we should take things more slowly. Not constantly throwing ourselves into the middle of every conflict."

"Conflict is exactly where we're going to find work. And where we can always expect there to be those who need help. That's why we're doing this, is it not? To help those who can't help themselves."

"We can't help anybody if we're a metal heap pile at the bottom of the sea."

"Nor if we run at the first sign of danger. Look. I'm not going to have this discussion. Everybody aboard knows the dangers involved. We may be walking right into a warzone, but that's a piece of knowledge we all have and choose to live with. Has it changed for you?"

"You know it hasn't."

"Then trust in me. You know I'd never do anything to put us in a level of danger past the point of no return. I just need you to bear with me right now. We'll get to the Nip Sea and see how things are. If it looks like it'll be too much for us, I'll turn us right around, but right now, we know there are people who need us, and we're going to be there for them. Understood?"

Gordez sighed, clearly not satisfied with my response, but knowing arguing would get him nowhere further. "I understand."

"Good," I said, hoping that as we got closer, Gordez only grew more comfortable with the route we were taking. "I'll raise a white flag when we get there. It should at least mean we won't get attacked on sight."

"If they're Earth Kingdom. And even then, they may not care. If it's Fire Nation though, they may just fire on us for surrendering."

"Then we'll play it by ear."

I could tell Gordez wasn't happy. There was no hiding that, so I redirected the conversation. "Do you have anything else to report?"

"The artillery gun is in place, fully operational, and newly cleaned. It's as though Jianghe never eve happened to the gun."

"Perfect, and the lift?"

"The chains are newly greased, and I added an extra one to help with the leverage. We should be able to raise and lower the gun at our convenience now."

"Good. How are our supplies?"

"We're good on food, water, and fuel, both petrol and coal. We have a substandard stock of weapons. Nothing bad, but not good either, just field issue stuff. The armor that Yilie gave us is in good enough condition, but we don't exactly have that much blasting jelly anymore. A good amount of it was either used during the siege or was detonated during the barrage."

"Then we'll get some more. How are Zadok, and Kosah doing?"

"Who?"

"The newbies. What the hell have you been calling them if you don't know their names."

"Well I've taken to calling them 'dumb' and 'dumber'. So which one is Zadok and which is Kosah?"

"Ask them yourself if you really want to know, but if keeping this ship sound is something you really want, then get to know their names. I'm not sure how much loyalty you'd inspire in the thick of it by calling them 'dumb' and 'dumber'."

"I'll consider it, then." There was a pause. I had no further questions to ask, but it seemed he did, and so, he then decided to ask, "How's Luke doing?"

**Luke**

_I'm sweating. I can feel the water everywhere I still have the sense of touch. I can feel it on my toes, my legs, my chest, my arms, my neck, hell, especially my deck, and my face too. I feel like I'm underwater, being submerged. _I can't swim. _I feel like I'm drowning but I can still breathe. I'm sweating every ounce of water inside of me. _

_ So why am I so cold?_

_ When was the last time I'd been this cold? Was it in Ba Sing Se? No. Not there. There, at least I had somewhere to go. There were other people around me. I was protected. I had food, clothing, the chance for warmth. In Citadel, I had none of that. How old had I been? 7? 8? It was definitely 8. Mini had already been killed, chopped up, and strung up. I think by the time winter came, he had just been cut down by somebody, I had no idea who. How long did he hang up there for? I think it was close to a month. Frost had started forming on his body. Or what was left of it. Vultures, crows, or even some of the slum cannibals, "the desperates" we called them, had already started picking him apart._

_ That winter, I had no home, no job, no shelter. There had been no such thing as the Hornets or the Rats yet. Greeti still ran the slums with his "Black-Eyes". Raava, that name still pissed me off to this day at how unimaginative it was. He still ruled with his equivalent of an "iron-fist", but anyone with eyes could already start to see the foundations coming apart. I forgot when it was that the Hornets took over. I remember the first time I ever saw them though. I couldn't believe my eyes. I could've sworn that The Black-Eyes had risen from the dead, come back to reclaim their streets, but it wasn't them. It was just another damn gang with the same brutal methods. "Different players, same game." I don't remember who it was from that I'd first learned that saying. Nearly everybody would use it on the streets. It was a saying synonymous with "Another day, Another copper." It was just the norm there._

_ But that winter. No amount of trash I had stacked on top of me would let the cold make way. I would piss myself in the middle of the night just for the warm relief of urine trickling down my leg, building up into a nice little puddle for me to lie in. I ate anything that moved that summer that I could eat, from the smallest ants to the largest rats. I never became a desperate though. Of that much, I could be proud at the very least. I never became one of raving animals that would crawl on all fours around the slums, just desperately searching for the freshly dead to feast on their remains._

_ I was asleep on night, freezing my ass off, somewhere having managed to actually let my mind drift off into the abyss of the night, when I woke to the teeth of a man around my left hand. My scream managed to scare him off at the very least, and he went darting back into the alleyways, hopping on all fours, no different from any of the other animals that roamed the city._

_ It was by a miracle I survived that winter. And by the charity of Mishi, the man who had given me some semblance of a home, of honest work. _I can still see his dead eyes staring at me. _The man who I had killed. For all intents and purposes. It wasn't my hand that had done it, but my greed, my stupidity, my naivete. It was my fault he had died._

_ How many people have I killed? The first man I had ever killed had been Janick, when he had fallen on the blade of my sword. I hadn't meant to end his life, but it was by my hand that he lay on that street, bleeding to death, alongside every one of his Rats, and nearly every Hornet to infest the streets. Alongside nigh everyone I had ever known, my entire past in its fullest._

_ He was the first man I had killed, and there had been so many more after that. The faces started to blend with one another. I had used to keep count at one point. A long time ago. The last number I ever remember counting was 137. That's one hundred and thirty-seven people that I had killed. And that's just when I stopped counting. That was before Gan and Gi Gu had died. Before I had joined Iroh's force. And since then, spirits. And since then, I'd killed so many more. I would be lying to say that their faces haunted me, but to be honest, I hardly remembered their faces anymore, and that's part of what I think scared me the most. That I could so easily justify taking lives to the point that a uniform didn't matter anymore. To the point that it would no longer matter to me if they were a risk to my life or not. To the point that I could justify slaughtering tens to hundreds of innocents just because they were by some loose thread connected to the death of Danev._

_Danev._

_My last friend from Citadel. The last memory of my past. He fell in Ba Sing Se. He fell alongside Lu Ten, the heart and soul of the Fire Nation. When they fell, the Fire Nation fell shortly afterward. I was among those to fall. And the burnt remains of Stone's Edge can attest to that fall. I remember walking alongside the walls, watching as member of my own unit turned to savagery, thieving, murdering, raping. I was just as bad as all of them. Danev would have been mortified. I remember that when he left Citadel, as much as he had hated the Nation he served, he knew that he was free. Free from the city that had also taken everybody he ever loved from him. That took the one man I think he ever really loved: Riu. They fought, like all other friends did, but they were more than friends. They were family. Brothers. And when Riu died, Danev lost all loyalty to the slums. He knew he had to move forward. And when I next saw him after he had left to join Iroh's army, I saw that he had. That he'd found his new purpose. His new family. His new brother._

_And he died alongside that brother in the slums of Ba Sing Se. Once a slumdog, always a slumdog. That was another saying we'd learned to hold dear. _

_I'm glad, though, that he died before he had the chance to see what I'd become: the killer, the monster. He was my last family. And since him, I'd refused to let myself become attached to another._

_That was when Squad Iron Fire found me, the mess that I was, so full of anger, hate, vengeance, sorrow, and suffering. They found me, and took me in. I refused to allow myself for months to get attached to them. I didn't speak with them, I ate my seals separately from them, all because I convinced myself that they, like every other family I had ever had, would eventually die. And I would be all that was left._

_I used to think that the term 'Survivor's Guilt' was sheer stupidity. Why should I feel sorry for being smarter, better, stronger, __**luckier**__? I understood it now. It's not because you have the guilt. It's not because you tell yourself that you should have died in their stead, but because you __**wish **__you died, because you wish that, while everyone else moved on, they hadn't left you alone, to fend for yourself._

_I used to wish that I had been with Danev when he died. I think that, a part of me too, when I slaughtered the town of Stone's Edge, had been searching for something other than revenge, but death as well. I remember wishing that they would fight back. That they would stop hiding, cowering, running away, that one of them would pick up a spear and defend himself, and kill me, kill the monster._

I opened my eyes. I was still so cold, yet so hot. I looked up and could see the white outline of something where my brow was supposed to be. My eyes were crusted over from the sleep. _It's the middle of the day. The sun is still shining through._

_I'm thirsty._

I look to my immediate left to see nothing of note. Just the opposite wall and my closet, my armor lying on the ground. _I left my helmet in Jianghe. _I look now to the right, moving myself to peer at the ground beside the bed to see a wooden bucket of water with a ladle sticking out. I can barely move beneath my layers; _how many is it? 5?_

I reach for the ladle beneath, trying to spoon some water into my mouth. The washcloth falls and I can feel the fresh liquid dripping down my face. I manage to pick up the ladle until I realize half of my torso is off of the bed, and I lose my balance, falling.

I land hard on the ground, the bucket knocks over, and I just manage to raise it in time to raise it to my lips and drink the rest that hasn't yet spilled. It's so cold.

I realize I haven't taken a breath of air yet, the water still pouring into my mouth. I cough the rest out, nearly choking. I'm out of bed, but something, doesn't feel right. My head. It's in some of the worst pain I've felt in-

My own thoughts are cut off by another burst of pain. I reach up to my head, trying to feel if I have some cut, some bruise, anything, but feel nothing. I raise myself off the floor with a degree of effort that shouldn't be worth the objective, and drag myself to the dresser, a mirror above it. I wipe my eyes, trying to remove what sleep is left in my eyes.

And when I open my eyes, I see myself in the mirror, but, it's not me. It's me, but not me at the same time. In place of my eyes are an ethereal blue glow, and on my head-

_No_

I open my eyes. I throw the covers off of me, the sweat still pouring down my body, the washcloth falls off, I trip over the bucket of water, spilling the water onto the ground, and rush to the dresser. I stare at my reflection. It's me again. It's me this time.

No arrow.

No arrow.

No arrow.

It's just me.

_Why?_

_Why did I dream about that?_

_Why did I dream that I had the arrow of an airbender?_

_Why did I dream this?_

I bring my hand up to my head, and it rubs through my hair that is back on my head where it's meant to me. It's just me.

It's just me.

_I used to wish that I died that day._

_But I didn't._

_I lived, and I was given a second chance. A chance to make things right. To not hurt those who are innocent of sin. To protect those who cannot protect themselves._

_That's why I'm here. That's why I didn't die that day. Not so the world could make me suffer, but so that I could fulfill my purpose in this world._

"Is this what you mean, Raava? Is this what you want from me?"

_I received no answer. I had expected none. She chose when to come to me. Not the other way around. But I didn't need her this time around. This time, I trusted that I could find the answers I needed on my own._

_I know why I'm here now. And I know why I lived that day. And I know what I have to do. And so long as I have it in my strength to protect those around me, those who cannot protect themselves, those who I care about, I'll have a purpose in this world._

I heard the calls of the seagulls from outside my window. I realized now that I wasn't sweating anymore. I felt, better, alive. We had reached land, which meant that it was time to rise. And so, for the third time, I rose from my bed, for real this time.

I avoided the filled bucket of water, and as I put on my clothes, my armor, and washed my face, I saw my face. No arrow. Just me. I'm not the Avatar. And I don't have to be. One doesn't have to be the Avatar to serve the world.


	16. Chapter 13: The Blockade Run

**Boss**

"And that would be a Fire Nation blockade directly in front of us"

And so it was, no more than three miles ahead of us to the east, a moving double-layered line of fully armed Fire Nation battleships, one moving North, the other South. I put down the telescope, through which I was attempting to notice any helpful details: ship make, banners, anything.

Nothing.

"So it is"

"And we're turning around now, right?" asked Gordez. There was no hiding his blatant terror. As a navy man, he was no stranger to the threat posed by an alert Fire Nation blockade, especially one in such a defensive pattern. Not only did you have a nigh impenetrable wall of armor, but 2 layers of fully operational artillery, all poised to sink the first vessel that comes within half a mile.

Lucky for us, however, Gordez wasn't the only navy man among us. I was no stranger to blockades. As a Southern Raider, they'd become an everyday obstacle, blockades of all sides, Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe alike. Running a blockade was all a matter of speed and timing. Of shrouding your intentions until it came time to cut everything save the engines and exploit whatever gap you could. I handed the telescope back to Gordez and exited the balcony on the command bridge, returning to the actual structure, directed immediately towards the PA system.

"We **are **turning around, right?"

I flipped the switch that enabled the PA, opening the hatch to allow my voice to travel through the bowels of the ship. "Engine crew," I spoke into the mic. "Bring down engines to two thirds ahead. Stand by for full speed ahead."

"Stand by for-**what**?!"

"You heard me, Gordez."

"You told me, in your words, that if things looked too messy, you'd turn us right around. That if it looked like a situation we couldn't get out of, if our lives were in danger, you'd turn **around!**"

"Our lives are constantly in danger. And past that blockade, there is a war going on, and hundreds to thousands of people are caught in the middle of it between two sides that don't care about them. Somebody has to look out for them, and-"

"And that somebody isn't-"

"-**is **us. You really don't think that's our job, then? To protect those who can't protect themselves. I thought that's what soldiers were, Gordez. I remember you used to feel the same."

"I do feel the same! I do! But this is a Fire Nation blockade. Those are battlecruisers, armed with catapults, scorpions, maybe even cannons like ours! This isn't the Earth Kingdom or Water Tribe like you used to run. I've been a part of my fair share and I've seen more runners than I can count erupt in balls of fire and shrapnel because they didn't have what it takes. There's no outrunning something like this!"

I was starting to grow frustrated now. Gordez was my friend. My oldest one at that. We'd been together for almost the entire duration of the Siege of Ba Sing Se, and if there was anybody I thought I could always rely on to be on my side, it'd be him, but to see this now, him so easily able to abandon the people past this blockade, it hurt to say the least."

"We are **not **going to leave the innocents caught in the middle of this war for dead."

"I'm not saying we should! But we have to be smart about this. And what you're suggesting, it's going to get us killed."

"So what do you propose then?! We turn around. Dock somewhere else? Go by land? Even with _Shanzi_, it'll take weeks, and odds are, depending on where we dock, we'll either be caught by the Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation armies. By the time we get to where we gotta go, they'll all be dead. The only way, is through this blockade!"

He sighed. He was close to giving up, which should have overjoyed me, but I myself, after hearing what he had to say, as we drew ever closer to the moving sheet of steel and artillery, was beginning to have my doubts. I was praying he'd say something more, give me something to work with, but when he didn't speak, I realized I'd have to be the one to ask. "Gordez, I-"

"We can try to sneak on through. I know these ships are out of date, that they've been decommissioned, but they won't fire on a vessel of their own make, at least not until they board it to find out our intentions."

"Even then it's a 50/50. Hell, probably worse. Anything more than a routine check, they'll quickly find out we aren't with them, then we'll be stuck fighting against the Fire Nation navy on our own ship. I imagine we could fight them off if we take the fighting to our superstructure, but-"

"But then we have the entire blockade to worry about. Even if we do manage to fight off a ship's worth of soldiers, which, let me just say, is a big 'if', we'd be blown out of the water by the dozens of other ships."

"So we can't let it come to fighting," I said.

"No. We can't."

"So what do we do, Gordez? I need you for this."

He stopped, leaning against the steel door that led to the command balcony, looking out of the windows to consider his options. He opened the door to the balcony, leaning against the rail, gazing out ahead as the shifting line of steel gray vessels. I followed, not precisely sure what he was looking at, until he spoke, "They have two shifting lines. They account for the space between the ships in a single line by having the second file fill the gaps. Gaps we need to get through. However, it's operating procedure that when an unknown vessel approaches, the nearest ship will break formation to intercept the incoming vessel to board it."

"Opening a gap in their blockade."

"In that incident, the blockade, seeing a hostile vessel trying to break through, will adjust their speed to try and fill the gap however possible, but these new battleships, they're slow, far slower than we are. We'd have to lure out one of their vessels to board us, and right before we allow them to get on, we haul ass and get through the gap they created. With any luck, the blockade will be more hesitant to fire on a Fire Nation vessel, giving us the time we need to squeeze on through. It's risky, but-"

"It's all we got."

I gazed out one last time at the obstacle that awaited us, and a mighty one it was, but despite the dread waving through me, I held on to that small spark of hope, and prayed it would come through for us as it had so many times before.

**Lieutenant Zhao**

It was a warmer day in the Nip sea. The winter, a mild one nonetheless, was beginning to subside, enabling the crew of the FNS Zodiac to enjoy the pleasantries of the midday ambience. As a firebender, we were taught a natural appreciation for days such as these, especially following the shorter and darker days that winter had thrown our way. Now, however, I was sure we could all feel the sun's energy flowing through our bodies and beings alike, granting us its power and raw over all else. _If that's not a clear enough sign of our destiny to rule all that the sun touches, I don't know what is._

Jeong Jeong's words never ceased to run through my mind. "Fire brings destruction and pain unto our enemies. As wielders of this immense power, we are burdened with walking the razor's edge between the death of our enemies and ourselves. Only with immense willpower can we ensure we never fall to the undesirable side and meet our own demise." I wondered where he was now. Last I heard, his ship was sent to the Earth Kingdom's east coast, somewhere near Citadel, possibly searching for a new protégé. I couldn't blame him. He had a skill for spying talent, just as he'd done with me.

The sun was a key ally, vital to our survival as a people, but in the military, one had to be educating beyond the teachings of the Fire Sages and know how to seize the advantage even when the environment didn't favor us. Perhaps it was shroud of darkness to allow us to come upon our enemy unbeknownst to them, or maybe even a veil of rain and thunder to mute our advance. Today however, cutting off the settlements of the Nip sea from relief or reinforcements, a sunny day was the best we could ask for. It was just what allowed us to spot the derelict Fire Navy destroyer approaching from 3 miles away.

It, on normal occasion would have been a normal enough sight, but in this day and age of technological revolution, the same couldn't be said. "Is that one of ours?" Junior Lieutenant Izzo asked from my side.

"It's our make, but that model's supposed to be decommissioned."

"Should we get the Captain? You know, tell him about the ship?"

"It's likely he's already seen it. We'll let the command crew on the Ajax do their math and tell us who's set to engage it." In a case such as this, order had to be maintained, and a blockade was a puzzle that only worked with all pieces in the right place. A blockade couldn't function if all pieces decided to engage the same target all at once, so the logisticians aboard the Ajax would do their duty, look at the maps, decide who was in the best position to intercept, and relay orders to them.

The ship was still drawing closer and we were able to identify the banner it was flying: Southern Raiders. Not much of a surprise. These seas were their prowling ground. There was a stigma against them in the Navy, sure. To many, they were no more than privateers, hired to raid and steal from the enemy. I, however, was able to understand how the pieces fit together. The more they pillaged, stole, raided, destroyed, the more they diverted Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe away from the real Fire Nation. So at the end of the day, it was an arrangement I could live with. The banner explained why their ships weren't one of the newer models, but all the same, destroyers weren't their forte, but mostly interceptors. _Perhaps a salvaged vessel? It's their type of thing to do. _But no matter how much I justified it, something seemed off about it. I couldn't put it into words, but I wanted to think I wasn't the only one who observed it. Perhaps it was the missing nameplate, but even then, it felt wrong in so many ways.

A few minutes later, I heard the characteristic call of a messenger hawk as it flew overhead, perching on the command balcony, turning around to present it satchel like the good trained beast it was. Captain Zain's aid, Naizo, was the one to retrieve the message, and he disappeared from my sight as he entered the command bridge to relay the orders as the hawk flew away back towards the General's ship.

"Guess we're up." Izzo said.

"Looks like it," I responded, grabbing my helmet, and picking my spear off of the ground.

"So today's our day, I take it?"

"Yes. The least you could do is put some effort into remembering when you're up."

"You know how I am with days," he said, wiping off his helmet before placing it on his head. "I don't count in sevens; I count in how many days until I get shore leave."

A boarding party was routine in scenarios such as this when a suspicious vessel approached, which this supposed Southern Raider ship most definitely was. I was already ready when Zain emerged from the command tower. The expecting boarding party gathered in a single file line, 10 men, most of whom were equipped while some such as Izzo lagged behind. He was by no means your traditional soldier, and the frequency at which I talked to him was no indicator of friendship. He was my assigned patrol partner. My tolerance for those such as him wasn't high, but when the only person watching my back was him, I was better to ensure I was on his good side rather than the bad.

We stood at attention, awaiting orders. "At ease, men, it's one of ours."

Most of the men eased up while one, Zeera, judging by her voice, asked, "What are our orders, captain?"

"I said at ease, lieutenant. And do not speak out of term! The ship is one of ours." I pitied Zeera. She was trying to do her job and a loyalist to the end, much like myself in many ways, but speaking out of line was not the smartest of moves.

Zain resumed, "There won't be a boarding party. Just a routine interception."

_What?_

"Sir. The ship is unmarked and an outdated-"

"What did I say about speaking out of line!?"

I shot back to attention, instantly regretting what I'd just done. In my 7 months aboard this vessel, I'd never disobeyed orders, disrespected my captain, nor spoken out of line. One stupid move like this was the kind that blocked recommendations for promotions. A stupid move. I scolded myself quietly, allowing Zain to finish off by saying, "Return to your posts. If any of you have questions, you can ask me yourself."

On a normal occasion, I'd have backed down, not willing to test my luck, but watching as Zeera also moved in to intercept Zain before he could return to the bridge as the rest of the now defunct boarding party dispersed, I worked up the courage to make my way there as well, hoping that perhaps our two voices could speak some reason. That was, however, assuming we had the same petition to bring to Zain, but something told me we were of the same mind in that moment.

"Permission to speak, sir?" she asked

"Permission to speak, sir?" I asked at the exact same moment, our voices combining as one.

"Should I assume this is about your orders?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Then I'll say what I said before. The ship's southern raider, we're in southern raider assigned territory. What more needs to be said?"

I moved to speak first, not wasting a moment to present what I'd observed with the ship, "Sir. The ship is unmarked, not bearing a nameplate and is of an outdated make. All destroyer-class vessels have been decommissioned and replaced."

"You know how the raiders are with their ships. Besides, the decommissioning was just a few months ago. Our job is to defend this sea from hostiles, not hand out citations for derelict equipment. Did you have anything to add, Lieutenant Zeera?"

"I was, going to say sir, that the vessel was also sporting unauthorized equipment, a 105-millimeter howitzer. I spotted it with my scope. A howitzer gun. Those aren't supposed to be aboard navy vessels. And as they got closer, they lowered it into the cargo bay."

"Probably because they don't want their time wasted with rules and regulations. Look. We have more important business to be doing, so keep an eye out for an Earth Kingdom ships that may be trying to slip in behind us and return to your stations."

There was no sense in arguing. The orders had been given and were written in stone.

"Am I understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes, sir!"

We walked off, and before we split up to return to our positions, I said, "Keep your gear on. If they see us at the ready, the more nervous they'll be and likely to slip up."

"Got it." It was a long short, but worth the try if it worked out. Zain was making a mistake that he was to blind to realize the extent of. And so I returned to my post by Izzo's side as I felt the Zodiac roar to life as it left the blockade, moving westwards to intercept the incoming threat. Because a threat it was. A vessel of that size, for all we knew, could be housing a full regiment of Earth Kingdom soldiers within its decks. No risk was too small when it came to this. Izzo, who had taken off his helmet and laid his spear on the ground, watching the waves as he leaned over the ship's rail, turned to me, saying, "Geez, Zhao. How tight you got that bucket around your head? Lighten up. We got a free pass for now. _For now, but if an Earth Kingdom arrow finds its way into your skull, you'll understand why there's no such thing as being overprepared. _I looked a ways to my side to see Zeera's own patrol partner, Chaija, also giving her hell. I liked Zeera. Not in any form of familiar nor romantic way, but I appreciated the soldier in her. She left nothing to chance and had as firm a conviction to her Nation as anybody I've ever seen, with the exception of myself perhaps.

The vessel drew nearer, and I could now see it's poor excuse for a nameplate, the words, "The Patriot", painted onto its hull. _Who do you think you're fooling?_

Both of our vessels came to a stop, parallel to one another, the "Patriot" on our port side, right where I was. I peered over at the deck, nearly empty save 4 souls, one appearing to be a female. They were in Navy uniforms, but not Southern Raider outfits. This was so not right. I waited until Zain made his way down from the command deck once again, hardly in any formal fashion, walking to the edge of the deck and peering over, having to shout because of the distance between us, "State your name and business!"

The difference in size of our two vessels was some solace as I knew that no matter what occurred here, we wouldn't be needless casualties unless some lucky sniper got a good shot on us. With that thought in mind, I peered over to their command deck. The door to the interior from the balcony was closed, but I could see enough through the window, or rather, not see enough, to know that it was practically empty save the helmsman at the controls. I couldn't identify whether or not he was in uniform. The ship's undermanned at the very least. That, or they don't have enough uniforms to fit their full contingent. _Always assume the worst. _For all I know, they have hundreds of Earth Benders below decks, but only enough uniforms to fit 4.

"Name's Captain Raozo!" the voice replied. "Southern Raiders in case you can't read the flag! We got reason to believe that there's some water benders hiding in the swamps down past here! We'd like to have a word with them if you catch our meaning!"

"I know all too well!" Zain replied, trying so hard to appease the proverbial "bad boys" of the Fire Nation armed forces. Our ship was larger, stronger, better than theirs, hence the replacement of those vessels, but they could outrun us. In Zain's position, I'd have positioned myself perpendicular to them in front, blocking all means of escape. Still, I peered over the edge, eyeing the suspiciously still crew of "The Patriot", just waiting. There was some scattered training equipment along the decks. Some sparring swords, training dummies, and more. The crew was eyeing us, and I could've sworn that I noticed on the men, a younger one, more like a boy, fidgeting where he stood. "I know it's none of our business, but mind telling me about your ship? That's not the usual raider ship model, and an outdated one at that."

_Of course he dismisses us in conversation but takes our advice. Typical Zain._

"You're right. It's none of your business, but if it really does concern you that much, some dumbass navy folk such as yourselves tried to defect and pawned off their ship to some water tribals. They got what they had coming."

_They certainly do speak like raiders, or at the very least, he does. And the way he uses the word 'defector' to dismiss the presumption from himself…_

"You're free to pass, then. Be on your way and take out a few waterbenders for us."

Running out of options, I peered at what Zeera had noticed, and the tarp covering the cargo elevator. It had been hurriedly put up and one could, if he paid attention, peer beneath it to not only see the aforementioned artillery gun, but the additional pairs of eyes that gazed on from beneath. They were hiding. They were the enemy, and they were passing through.

"Will do!"

Their engines came to life, and I could see my options disappearing before my eyes leaving me with just one. There would be no proof that would get Zain to heed my warning. My only option was to initiate. I could fire on their deck, at one of them, get a good blast of fire down there, and when they realized the jog was up, they'd return fire and they'd be finished. They would have the entire blockade in front of them and would have no time to turn around. They'd be ours, and I'd have been the one to do it.

_And if I'm wrong? _And if I'm wrong, and I fire on a friendly vessel, and kill a man on our side, I'd be arrested, court-martialed, executed at worst, and imprisoned at best, either way, I'd be kissing my career goodbye. So it all came down to how sure I was that the men in front of me, were in fact, the enemy.

_To hell with it._

**Boss**

It was all going so well. We lowered our gun and hid it below decks, we raised our banner, we were uniformed perhaps not as usual raiders were, but that was no big issue given the lack of discipline among their ranks. We came to the perfect stop, following operating protocol to the letter. Their captain was a dumbass trying not to anger the renowned Southern Raiders. We answered our questions perfectly, stick to the story, and were given the pass, then out of nowhere, to my right as I head back towards the bridge, an explosion of fire erupts. I didn't have time to try to stop the fighting before Gordez emerged from below decks to rush to my side and fired off a crossbow bolt at the man he suspected of the unprovoked attack.

I got to my feet and before I could even draw my own weapon, Ka'lira, Zek, and Jadoh were returning fire, shooting upwards to try to suppress our attackers, but viewing the monstrosity of steel and death by our sides, I knew there was only one real option. I turned up toward the command bridge to see that Kosah was peering down, observing the carnage, not sure what to do in a situation where we were facing off against his own nation. I didn't want to kill anybody, but we had to run, and run fast. "Get us out of here, Kosah!"

He paused, looked down again, and I suppose he saw the look on my face just screaming, "NOW!" at him. He ran into the bridge to get us underway and around 15 seconds later, I could hear the engines below us hum to life.

I put a hand on Gordez's shoulder who had just fired a bolt at the enemy and told him, "Get down to the engine room and get us moving fast. I'll be on the bridge!" He nodded and slid down through the gap between the tarp and the cargo elevator, using the maintenance shaft to work his way to the engine room. I then, dodging multiple new projectiles of flame and death, worked my way towards where Zek, Ka'lira, and Jadoh were huddled behind the training gear, using it for cover, and said, "I'm heading to the bridge. Provide covering fire and get your asses inside now!"

They nodded in affirmation and as I broke for the bridge, I heard the firing of two more crossbow bolts behind me and the clang of metal across the minimal gap separating our petty vessel and their warship. The bolts didn't strike flesh but were enough to stave off a volley of fireballs, giving us the time needed to retreat into the vessel and close the steel door of the superstructure behind us.

"Zek! Get down there and help the engine crew get us out of here. Jadoh, Ka'lira, I need you on the bridge now!"

There were no complaints as Zek slid down the latter as Ka'lira, Jadoh, and I began our ascent.

We were on the bridge quickly enough and I was pleased to see that Kosah had done his part and we were set to full speed ahead. We were moving, and straight towards the blockade. Half a mile away, with minimal attention being paid on a simple interaction between two supposed Fire Nation vessels, the conflict was still unapparent, and the gap where our current enemy, "The Zodiac," judging by the name on the side, was still wide open. We had our entryway. It was now just a matter of getting through.

And so, as _The Zodiac, _thankfully, failed to make its turn, we made on our way, our smaller size allowing us to slip past with only 2 crossbow bolts being fired at our bridge and hitting the glass, piercing through and staying stuck in like a Hornet's stinger, but before long, we were away, and directly ahead awaited the blockade. We weren't done yet. We weren't even close.

**Lieutenant Zhao**

"Turn us around!" I yelled instinctively at nobody in particular, breaking about three laws of war in the process, subverting the command structure, speaking out of line, and disobeying a direct order when Zain had allowed the ship to pass through.

"Lieutenant Zhao!" cried Zain once the shooting had stopped and both sides were no longer pelting each other with ammunition. "What in spirits' name do you think you're doing?!"

"Captain," I heard myself starting, damning formality, and now too far gone to turn around. "That vessel is under the control of hostile forces and is not one of our own! The fact they fired on us is proof enough of that."

"Perhaps they fired on us because we initiated hostilities!" I was not about to play semantics with this man who was clearly unwilling in every way, shape, and form to perform his duty, so instead, as loudly as I could to have the entire deck hear me without approaching a yell, I said, "We have to pursue them. If they get to our blockade, they could inflict damage upon our ships, reduce our ability to defend this area, and possibly inflict casualties upon friendly forces."

"The ship is one of ours, damnit! And if it's like you say it is, then our blockade will be more than capable of handling it."

_Not if they think we let them through like you just did._

"So you won't go after them?" I asked, just waiting to draw him into my trap.

"No, I won't." And so he said just what I'd hoped he would.

"Then I am imposing Section 3, Article 2. An enlisted man or woman is enabled to disobey a superior's orders and assume command if his superior's orders are against his or her direct superior's commands, against the interests of the Fire Nation, against the wishes of the Fire Lord, or endangering Fire Nation citizens and/or personnel." I didn't waste time reciting the rest which stated that, 'The command structure, following investigation and potential judicial action, will be altered accordingly and if a superior's actions are found not to have been categorized under the aforementioned categories, the disobedient enlisted men and/or women will be disciplined and punished accordingly.'

Luckily for me, he didn't think to cite, or even remember that part, and so he was left speechless, as were the rest of the men on the deck, and it was time being wasted. I had won. I craned my head up towards the command deck, yelling "Turn us around and set for full speed ahead. Follow that destroyer!"

And like a well-oiled machine, the command crew above set to work and Zain's protests fell on death ears as I ordered him restrained as privileged to me by point 7 of said article, 'The disobedient enlisted men or women may restrain their superior if his or her actions continue to fall under the category of the aforementioned points of disloyalty.'

"Fire a flare!" I yelled at nobody in particular, yet at the same time knowing I was heard by all. "Let the blockade know negotiations have broken down."

And only a few seconds later, I saw the streak of red smoke fly into the air before the firework erupted over ahead, it's brilliant light show a match for even the sun that rained down on us, granting us its divine favor.

Yet no amount of sun could make our engines roar louder or our rotors spin faster, and so at a comparatively snail's pace matched against our victim, we made our slow turn until we were finally parallel to it, albeit a tenth of a mile behind. A poor start, but one that would have to be made up for.

I had made my way up to the bridge now and the new temporary balance of power had been understood. I'd made sure that it had down on the main deck. Protocol was protocol, and lucky for me, I'd been the one to cite it first. _No. Not luck. Diligence. Intelligence. _

The blockade was directly ahead, the gap where we'd been moments before still disturbingly open. I could see as the pieces of the puzzle began to reshift and fit themselves into a new image that wouldn't make way for the oncoming blockade runner, but they weren't moving quite quick enough. _The blockade's not going to make it._

We were a quarter of a mile away, our prey nearly a tenth. They were quicker than us, and they were going to get through. _And we had to make sure we did too._

"Sir, we're not going to make it through," announced the helmsman. _I'm not losing my prey. This was the moment I'd been waiting for. This was what had the potential to build careers._

"Order half of our gunnery crew to the engine rooms. Load the boilers to full capacity. Damn the safety regulations. We're not letting them escape." The helmsman's nod was hesitant, but obedient. The deck cleared, and our speed picked up, albeit minimally. We were nearing the so-called "Patriot" but at the very moment I noticed us speed forward was when the enemy broke through our failed blockade, yet they refused to stop their advance to let us through. _Stop you idiots!_

"Sir. The blockade is still closing."

"Then if you don't want to turn into a Fire Nation cruiser's wall decoration, I recommend you get us through there as quickly as possible." I was in no mood for cowardice. I'd had enough of that with Zain at the head of this vessel, but as we came ever closer to our own line of defense, the more worried I became, but I pushed the thoughts aside, there was a gap, and it was just large enough. I saw it, the helmsman saw it, we all saw it. We would fit. The deciding factor was if we had what it took to get through. And I was done with cowards.

"Don't stop."

And we didn't, and the screech of the FNS Retribution's ram against our hull was the sound of our hearts dropping into our stomachs as we squeezed past the blockade, we'd set up in the first place. This was our prey, and we were in the best position to pursue of any other vessels in the blockade. The time it would've taken to readjust to fit us back in and dispatch another ship after "The Patriot" would have left us more vulnerable. At least, that's what I told myself as the bridge crew looked at me as though they were asking if we'd just gone rogue. On the contrary, this was exactly what we were meant to do.

"Status report."

"Hull damage on our starboard side."

"Are we taking in water?"

"Negative sir. The breach is above sea level."

"Then we'll repair it once our work here is done. Ready the catapults. I want them trained on the engines at once. I want them dead in water."

"Aye, sir."

"The order was relayed through the ship PA and from the bridge, I could see as the artillery was manned and as they all shifted from our port side to directly in front of us, batteries trained on their rear engine. That was the thing about Fire Nation ships. Extremely vulnerable behind, but when your military doctrine was based around a head forward assault, merciless, relentless, the rear no longer became important, a swift and decisive offense became our defense.

The batteries fired from below and I watched as all three emplacements missed their targets. I didn't need to tell them to go again, and no more than 20 seconds later, 3 more flaming boulders roared through the air, and one struck home, perfectly targeting their rear engine, and so emerged the grey smoke of their lifeblood. The smoke rose, and no later were we in the thick of it. Their vessel was slowing, and we were only gaining speed. _We have them. _I couldn't suppress my grin. I could still see the silhouette of their vessel in front of us. We were almost on them.

"Fire again. Directly ahead!"

"Aye, sir!"

And so came the final barrage, until. Until.

"We're taking on water on C deck!"

_What? How? We're above sea level!_

Then all 3 shots of the catapults went astray, and the Patriot's silhouette was gone, and we were no longer facing straight ahead. The rain came all at once. There was no gradual increase from droplets to downpour, but in a span of seconds, we were caught in-"

"We're caught in a maelstrom, sir!"

"How?" This time I didn't think it to myself, but accidentally said it aloud. I should have known better, but there could be no containing my shock. This couldn't be real. It had to be some kind of trickery. I opened the door to the command deck and was immediately pelted with the needle-sharp rain pellets as they relentlessly battered me. I looked ahead, and sure enough, the Patriot was gone. Allowing my gaze to go further down, I saw it, the absolute last thing I'd expected on a day such as this. Directly in front of us, a pit in the sea, a whirlpool we were being drawn into. The men on the deck were rushing away from their gun emplacements to get inside, and no later, a wave liberated our deck off our catapult emplacements.

We were being drawn in ever so quickly, and the fear on the face of the men was apparent. _No. Not like this. _I turned to the helmsman who, in a move of desperation, was trying to turn us away from the eye of the whirlpool, but what he didn't know was that, by turning our most heavy portion of the ship towards the center, he was drawing us in all the more. No, not like this. "Don't turn away from the eye," I said. "Follow the flow of the whirlpool. Ride it and let it provide us with the momentum we need!"

The man nodded and allowed the wheel some slack as we returned to a forward position, and so we rode the waves. And as we rode the circular currents of the spontaneous storm, the eyes of all men and women on deck were drawn to our portside, viewing out of our windows at the anomaly directly to our side, the pit of the whirlpool, the eye of the ever-so-sudden storm, and in that eye, it almost looked like, _A face?_

I moved in closer to investigate when the smoke that was still circulating in the torrent hit us with full force, obscuring our vision. I could feel our momentum building, we had to get out. "We have what we need!" I yell. "Get us out of here!"

And in that moment, we turned against the flow and aimed for the edge, and so, using the push that the storm had so graciously provided us, we escaped the whirlpool's grasp, and with a loud crash, our bow came down hard on the water, returning us to solid sea. And within the minute, we were out of the storm. We'd made it. And the bridge crew breathed one cumulous sigh of relief. We'd made it, but I had to know. "Get a damage control group on C-deck," I ordered before crashing through the bridge door to look behind us, and where a storm had been only seconds before, calm sea existed only. And in addition to that, we'd lost the patriot. They'd stopped the engine fire and the storm sucked up all of their smoke. They escaped. _But how._

The questions I heard behind me as _The Zodiac _pondered the selfsame question went off. Waterbenders? Flash flood? Flash typhoon? _No. _This was something else. This went beyond natural occurrences. This wasn't nature. This was the work of the spirits.

Soon enough, ensign Naizo came out onto the still slippery command deck, asking, "What should we report to General Shu and the blockade, sir?"

I breathed out and wondered just how to put this. The enemy had gotten away, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was just how they'd done it. "Tell him-" I paused. "Tell him that the enemy escaped, and that they carry with them a great threat to the Fire Nation."


	17. Chapter 14: Marooned

**Lieutenant Zhao**

Our ship had been found 3 hours later by the FNS "Pathfinder" that had been sent out to try to discern what had happened to us. They found us dead in the sea, still taking on water, unveiling a new crippled system within the ship by the minute. Whatever the hell that storm had been, it did a number on us. The more I realized just how stranded we were, the more I came to realize how lucky we'd been to get out when we did. _No. Not luck. Good leadership. _If it had been Zain in charge, we'd be at the bottom of the Nip sea, half of us dead, the rest of us cramped in whatever air pocket we could find before giving up and trying to make a map dash for the surface-a swim we wouldn't live through.

I got us through this. The people on board had to recognize that. They had to. At least, that's what I was praying for in my head as, to our mutual surprise, it wasn't the Captain of the "Pathfinder" that boarded our crippled floating of scrap metal, but rather, the general himself. As acting captain of "The Zodiac," I had been the one to meet him as he strode on deck. I'd been ready to defend my actions to some lowly captain, but this, I hadn't yet synthesized the words on how to explain what had happened. That we'd lost the treasonous skiff, that we'd failed our chase, that we'd been stopped by a spirit. _Who in the right mind would believe it? _I wouldn't have.

I don't know what I'd been expecting. Perhaps to have been restrained, even detained aboard "The Pathfinder". While Section 3, Article 2 deemed what I'd done to have been lawful until proven guilty by a court, the execution was very much the opposite, and mutinying officers such as I would be detained and treated as a traitor until found innocent. I had thought of that when I made my choice, hoping my actions would speak for themselves. But now, our prey gone, escaped into the Nip Sea, and m only excuse being an attack from a spirit, I didn't much like my odds. I expected many things, but not for General Shu to push his first into my stomach, his steel gauntlet granting his assault extra strength as I fell from a full-attentive position to my knees, gagging on a regurgitating lunch trying to make its way back out, only for me to swallow it against my will in a fool's effort to retain what I could of my dignity in that moment despite having been pummeled by a senior officer.

"What in Raava's name did you think you were doing?"

I was still gagging on my own blood that was now intermingling with the vomit lining my throat, making a second attempt to come out once more. "Speak, damnit!" he said again when I failed to answer. "Explain your actions."

"I was." I coughed, interrupting myself as I attempted to struggle for air, "attempting to apprehend the crew, and possibly Earth Kingdom personnel, of a stolen Fire Nation vessel."

"In the process, running a friendly blockade."

"My ship was in the best position to pursue, already tailing it."

"You know protocol, Lieutenant. In an incident such as this, where a blockade closes in an untimely manner, approaching vessels are to evade the blockade to avoid any risk of friendly casualties. At that point, the nearest Fire Nation vessel will break off of the blockade to engage hostile vessels. It's protocol, soldier. Or do you only remember the ones that allow you to weasel your way to power."

I looked around the deck. All the rest were silent, none daring to speak to my defense. Not Izzo, not Zeera, and especially not Captain Zain who had just been liberated from captivity below by Shu's personal guard.

"I knew that I could make it through, and I didn't want any more ships disengaging from the blockade. Protocol also dictates that if vessels can avoid breaking off from a blockade however possible, they must."

"But not at the cost of Fire Nation lives, lieutenant Zhao."

"He doesn't care about Fire Nation lives!" bellowed Zain from where he was flanked by Shu's guards, who promptly had to restrain him as he tried to lunge forward at me. "He's only in it for his own gain."

"At least I acted while you-"

"Don't speak out of line, Lieutenant!"

"Ha!" laughed Zain from where he was being grabbed under the shoulders by two Fire Nation soldiers, nearly levitating the small man off the ground.

"The same goes for you, Captain. You're not out of the woods yourself. You have something to say, lieutenant? Then speak."

_Thank you. _

"Sir. I acted because Captain Zain refused to, despite the clear signs of enemy infiltration aboard the destroyer that passed through, intervene. He ignored any and all advising that the crew and I gave that pointed towards the fact that the vessel was stolen."

General Shu looked around now, towards the crew, asking, "Is this true? Did anybody else raise these complaints."

_Damn it, Zeera. Speak!_

"Sir!" she said. "Permission to speak?"

_Finally. Took you long enough. But I guess that makes you the smarter one now, doesn't it?_

"Granted."

"Both Lieutenant Zhao and I approached Captain Zain with our objections. Lieutenant Zhao noted that the ship was an outdated model and that there was no officially licensed nameplate aboard the vessel, but rather, merely a painted etch of the name. I made note of the nonstandard armaments aboard."

"Nonstandard armaments?"

"A 105-millimeter artillery gun. Manual by the looks of it."

"And your captain ignored these objections?"

"Not ignore, sir, but certainly not act on them either. He accepted the first explanation that the vessel's crew gave, as though trying to evade conflict."

"You lying whore!" The captain yelled.

"Strike him!" Shu ordered the guards, followed by the one on the right, while maintaining his grip on Zain's right shoulder, twisted his torso to land a good punch in Zain's stomach with an ungloved fist.

I wanted to speak, but this time, I knew better.

"Permission to speak, General?"

"Granted."

"It is captain Zain who should be held accountable for what occurred. If he had intervened, we could have stopped the vessel before it even reached the blockade."

"Captain Zain will be punished for his actions, but you forget, Lieutenant, he wasn't **in **command for the full duration. That was you. You can't have the freedom to assume command and **not **be found accountable for your actions. Can't have it both ways, lieutenant."

_No. Of course not. That was stupid of me._

"Stand up."

I struggled to get to my feet, but somehow managed, returning to an attentive position.

"Because of the incompetency of this vessel," he continued, "A hostile vessel has worked its way past our blockade and now stands poised to interfere with our operations in the Nip sea. There is no time to return to the Fire Nation for a court martial and I will not waste supplies on prisoners. Invoking Section 1, Article 7, as your commanding officer, I will be assuming judgement of this case. Lieutenant Zhao, for negligence regarding blockade procedure, and inadvertent endangerment of Fire Nation personnel, you are hereby demoted to ensign and relieved from your post aboard 'The FNS Zodiac.' You are hereby stationed aboard the 'FNS Ajax, to report there following conclusion of this court session'"

_His own ship. Was this a demotion, or a promotion? Or did he just want to keep an eye on me. Either way, I could use this. _

I suppressed a hidden grin, saluting as he dismissed me, allowing me to breathe a sigh of relief as he moved on over to Zain.

"Captain Zain, for negligence regarding blockade procedure, inattentiveness to your surroundings, ignorance of your inferior crewmen, and deliberate endangerment of Fire Nation personnel, you are stripped of your command, expelled from the Fire Nation Navy and armed forces, and are subject to immediate death by firing squad.

_Wait. What?_

The murmurs were going around the crew already and Zain, nothing to lose, was squealing at the top of his lungs. "What the fuck is wrong with you?! 'Deliberate' endangerment of Fire Nation lives? My ass! I'm not a traitor!"

It mattered not. The soldiers who were already practically carrying him, brough him over to the wall of the superstructure, 2 more of Shu's guards approaching with binders, clasping his arms together behind his back and, with more difficulty, his legs to one another, before being cuffed to the maintenance ladder that ran up the superstructure, and the four firebenders moved back into a firing position, the ex-captain in their sights.

"On my mark!"

"You can't do this. I've served my nation loyally for 17 years! You can't do this!"

"Ready!"

The soldiers got into their firing stances, in the proper standing positions to charge up four fatal blasts of fire.

"I swear to you. I wouldn't betray my nation. I'm sorry, just please. Don't kill me!"

"Aim!"

I could feel the change in atmosphere as the men began building the flames in their retracted right hands, ready for the killing blow.

"I'm begging you, please. Damn you! Damn you all to hell!"

"Fire!"

Four quick shots. Four holes in the man's body as his body slumped forward, not allowed to fall to the metal floor on account of the handcuffs binding him to the wall, propping him up like a scarecrow. And that it was. Justice, but also a warning. To the crew of this ship, but mostly to me. I got lucky this time, but _this_, so I saw, watching the small flames still dancing around within Zain's lifeless corpse, _this _is what happens to those who fail the Fire Nation.

**Luke**

I woke up with the light and dark playing tricks with my eyes, replacing one another from one moment to the next. _Clouds? _I wondered, trying to turn my head where I lied in bed to get a look out of the window above my bed, a task that soon revealed itself to be impossible.

I closed my eyes, trying to achieve the impossible task of getting comfortable in my sweat-soaked bed and underclothes. No side I turned to would suffice, and the sporadic appearances of light that flashed across my eyes didn't help. _What the hell kind of clouds were these? _I opened my eyes, a new sense of determination to get up and see if I could block the window with anything to try to get back in bed until I turned around, looking through the window to see not clouds, but leaves, branches, trees, shore.

_We're here. So why the hell did nobody wake me up?_

I new sense of purpose and energy, I shot out of bed. I'd hoped to try to beat the rest of the crew's realization that I hadn't yet emerged from my room, but the metallic clang that sounded from my door told me that I'd failed in that regard.

"Luke." Zek called. "You up?"

"I'm up! I'm up!"

"Then get up, you lazy piker!"

_What the fuck is a piker?_

"I'm coming, asshat."

I heard his chuckle through the door as he left me to my own accord.

I was out of bed now and could see myself in the reflection of the mirror above the washing basin in my room. _Hell. How long was I out?_

It didn't matter. There was still water in the basin and reached in to splash some on my face until the whole of the water fell back into the basin between my fingers.

My hands were shaking.

I tried clamping down on my right hand with my left, but when the left was shaking just as furiously, it didn't do much to help.

_The nightmares are over, Luke. _I tried telling myself. _You're in control again. _I nodded to myself, as thought trying to cast aside my own worries. There'd been good dreams and bad dreams. It started mostly with the nightmares for the first part of the time I was out. The people I killed, the families I destroyed, the chills in the middle of the night (or day). It became hard to tell the difference at one point. Then those finally began to dim. And it was as though the world grew brighter, but the shadow remained. And there was that image. An image I'd seen before. Buildings burning, on a mountain peak, connected together by bridges, people screaming, burning. _But who? People. Just people._

Then there were the good dreams. The people I saved. The new leaf. The person I could be. The person I **had **to be.

And while the shake in my hands slowed, I didn't want to take any chances. Besides, I needed more than a handful. I dunked my head into the water, letting it revive me from the nights' worth of terror and restlessness. I was awake.

I took off my underclothes as though I were peeling them off rather than disrobing, tossing them to the side of my room's door. _I'll wash them later today_. Naked, I opened my closet door, looking low to expect the pile of common clothes and armor, only to look up to find my armor neatly stacked on the shelves, helmet and breastplate on one shelf, leg and arm plates on the other. Next to that, neatly folded was the gray Fire Nation uniform that went under the armor, neatly folded and, I smelled, cleaned too.

As I pondered who, what, why, and how, I couldn't help myself from growing increasingly worried as the implications came to light. No. I hadn't been eating or drinking. _There's no way they had to. Please tell me they didn't have to clean me. _I stood there, nude for a few moments, trying however I could to rationalize an explanation that ended with them staying away from me in that sense, using my full bladder and desperate desire to shit as a hopeful, if not desperate attempt to say that they hadn't done so. _The less I know, the better. _

I found the underwear folded as well, grabbing it, sliding it on, one of Zeeda's many gracious gifts to us, including the clean spare uniforms and common clothes. I didn't know what the day had in store, so for the moment, not expecting the need to blend in any time soon by the primitive look of where we were outside, I settled for gray baggy pants, a dimmed brown tunic. Over it, always expecting the worst, I donned the Fire Nation armor plate, elbow guards, and knee guards, tucking the bagginess of the pants into the military boots, and, in accordance with the late winter day that it seemed to be outside, a light brown coat that I left unbound in the front, revealing the armor, hoping to dissuade any confrontation if it came to that. I buckled my belt around my tunic, sheathing my short sword, and lastly, in an easy to reach spot in my boot, my lucky knife, **Danev's** lucky knife before me.

_Where are you now, Danev? _You in the spirit world somewhere, floating around, one with peace, is your soul still trapped in your body I buried that fateful day, or are you just in the void, in the nothingness beyond?

It wasn't a question I wanted answered. Not now, at least. I'd find out when my own time came. And so I pushed the door to my room open, finally ready to meet the world that awaited me.

So after a quick trip to the latrines on board the ship rather than over the deck due to the magics of Fire Nation plumbing and engineering, I was on the main deck, gazing out in mystical delight at the world around us. Trees surrounded us on every side except for one miniscule passageway that itself was shrouded by bent over trees, shrouding the passageway, perfectly concealing us. _How the hell did we find this place?_

As though to answer my question, Boss walked up next to me, stopping by me, and saying, "It wasn't my doing if that's what you're wondering."

"How did we get here?" I asked, truly wondering about all that passed since I'd fallen into that grievous slumber.

"I tried to break the blockade. It didn't work. We got caught. We ran. They had us. Then-"

"Then the sea awoke from its ancient slumber," interjected Zek, putting an arm around Boss's shoulder so as to elaborate upon the sheer magnificence of the events I'd missed. "The water spirit of days long past, heard our cries for help, and in his mercy and grace, summoned the power of the sea to his command, whisking away our pursuers, and guiding us in his comforting arms to this little sanctuary we now call home."

I finished listening to Zek's story, more than amused, somehow glad to hear his dumb voice after what'd felt like so long without it, now turning to Boss to hear the real story. "Flash storm. Strong one too. We'd taken on damage to our engine and were sitting ducks when we got lucky. Not spirits. Luck."

"You have no imagination, Boss," Zek said in disappointment as he removed his arm from Boss's shoulder, turning me to ask, "Feeling better, Luke?"

"Better's subjective," I answered. "On one hand, I no longer feel like I'm about to throw up at any damn moment, but on the other, I'm back to hearing your shit jokes."

"So improvements all across the board. You almost sound like you don't want to stick a knife in your own throat for once."

"Riiiiiiiiight. Now I just want to stick one in yours."

"And he has a sense of humor too. Man, I'm starting to like this non-edgy and depressed version of you. I think we'll get along great."

"Zek," Boss said, "Mind giving Gordez a hand in taking inventory of what we'll need to get this thing back up and running?"

"Can do, Boss." He turned to leave.

Boss regained my attention and I his. "You mentioned we got hit."

"Fire Nation warship. Miracle we survived, really."

"Or maybe Zek's just right and we have friends in high places."

"A crew as morally devoid as ours? Wouldn't count on it."

_You'd be surprised of the low lives spirits use to do their bidding._

"So we got in a bit of a scrap. Did anybody-"

"Die? No. At least I don't believe so. None of our shots hit home and we didn't get the chance to use the gun."

"Alright," I nodded. _That was of some small comfort, to hear that both we and the Fire Nation soldiers got out with our lives intact. They may be our enemies in a way, but I still can't help but feel the loyalty they earned from me by saving my life all that time ago._

And now that we were done talking shop, Boss looked at me, with real intent in his eyes that were in the shadows of his dark brown, almost black hair, asking, "How you feeling, Luke?"

"Better. A lot better. I feel like I can finally get back to being myself now. It's been too long of being afraid to be inside my own body."

"You still comfortable doing this, the fighting, the war? You don't have to stick around. I'm sure there are some towns around here where-"

"No. I want to stay. I don't feel like I'm still being weighed down by my past, like I have a debt to pay, but I want to help the people who can't protect themselves. I've spent too much of my life exploiting them, and I want to give myself the chance to be the good guy for once. Or at least however close I can come to that."

He nodded, seemingly relieved, proceeding to say, "Glad you're staying with us, then. We need all the help we can get."

"What do you need doing? Want me to try and help getting the engine back?"

"No, no. Already got pretty much everyone working on that. I actually wouldn't mind you doing some scouting for us, find out where we are. I want to think we're on the northern end of the Nip sea, but I can't be sure. We got spun around quite a bit in that storm."

I nodded, asking, "You try looking at the sun?"

"Have **you**?"

I looked up. There was no blue to be seen in the sky. Just a tick white sheet of clouds spread across the whole sky. "Point taken," I said.

He resumed, "I'd like for you and Ka'lira to get a lay of the land, draw some maps, and try to find civilization. You're already equipped more or less like a civilian so you should be more or less good to go. Find her, probably near Zek, and get going."

"Yes, sir."

"Wait wait wait. You've been out for 6 days."

_6 days? Wasn't sure if that was more or less than what I'd expected._

"You hungry?" he finished.

And I finally became aware of the gaping hoe in my stomach that had been left unfilled for the aforementioned span of time. And I suddenly lost the ability to talk as that pain, that aching feeling became the only thing I knew. I nodded.

"Ka'lira cooked up some fish we caught. It shouldn't be cold yet. It's still upstairs. Eat up, clean up, find Ka'lira, and get going. Oh. And I don't want you guys walking mindlessly for hours on end. Take _Shanzi _with you.

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

After all this time, I still didn't know if I should salute, so instead, I nodded my head, and set off to eat, and later, to find Ka'lira, likely near Zek. I was no stranger to it. I saw the same thing with Danev. The pleasures in this world only last so long. Enjoy it while you can.

**Zek**

"All sounds simply enough, I guess," I said to Gordez, looking over the grocery list he'd had me compile. _Hammers, wrenches (a kit of different sizes), 1-inch screws, and any other sizes you see (the more, the merrier), screwdrivers, a crowbar, 2-inch thick metal plating) _"The tools should be simple, but it may be a bit tougher getting the metal plates we need."

"We can focus on that later. For now, I just need some equipment to be able to start stripping the bad sheets from the engine before it warps anymore under the heat and gets in the way of the machinery."

"Fair enough."

"Am I getting reimbursed for what I spend in town?" Ka'lira asked.

"It's coming out of your pay," Gordez joked.

"Wait," I interjected. "We're getting paid?"

Gordez smiled, turning back to Zadok and…Kosah. Was going to take a while for me to learn their names. I turned to Ka'lira, "Well, this about covers what you're going to be looking for if you manage to find a trace of civilization out there, not that I'm counting on it."

"Who knows? I might come across a natural reserve of…" she looked at the list over my shoulder where I was holding the list, her chin brushing against my shoulder as she did so, almost resting her head on it, reading "adjustable spanner wrenches. Whatever the hell those are."

I smiled, enjoying the feeling of her momentarily resting her head on my shoulder, even if it was more in a joking manner that romantic one, but hey, it was a step in the right direction. At least, I wanted to think so.

She leaned back against the catwalk railing, tapping against the open spot next to her for me to join in. I leaned against it as well, not sure if the heat in the room was from the engines as Gordez's crew worked desperately to stop them from overheating, or something else.

"So how am I doing?" she asked.

"Pardon?"

"Getting assimilated. You know, fitting in?"

"Oh please. You were fitting in the practical moment you got here."

"That's a lie if I ever heard one. I saw the way they looked at me, eyeing me up and down as though they didn't trust me."

I had to stop myself from laughing. "They looked at you that way because you were the first girl they'd seen in years. A soldier doesn't see a real girl for years on end, the first one they see, no matter how pretty or ugly, they imagine fucking them."

"What a vivid image, except you didn't look at me that way. So what? You saying I'm not 'fuck-worthy' by your words?"

Gordez's head shot around the moment he heard that, not sure what in Raava's name he was hearing, the expression on his face enough to make me burst out laughing if I wasn't preoccupied trying to find the safest way out of this trap, at least until Ka'lira also saw Gordez's face and burst out laughing, saying, "I'm just screwing with you, but look Zek, I know the faces of guys who want to take me. You forget where you found me in the first place. And those weren't the faces I saw here. The people here, they're decent, good people. It's been too long since I could say something like that. But I was a newcomer, a risk, and the look I saw, that's what it was, distrust."

I sighed in relief, so glad she gave me a tactical retreat from that corner I found myself trapped in, saying, "You can't blame them, Ka'lira. We all were, still are, on edge."

"Oh I don't blame them at all. I get it. I just want to hope I've moved past that."

"You have. Without a doubt. Now the ones in question are those two."

"Kosah and Zadok? I trust 'em?"

"Really now?" I asked, amused at how she'd come to that conclusion. "And why's that?"

"I don't know. They just seem innocent and well-meaning. Eager even. Though I imagine going against their country's a bit tough on them."

"It's not really accurate to say we're going against one single country. I mean, you saw what happened at Jianghe. That incident at the blockade, nothing by comparison. This is just about trying to do the right thing."

"So if it were to come to a choice between the lives of civilians, and the lives of Fire Nation soldiers, which would you choose."

And I thought about that for a moment, knowing clearly what the correct answer was, but I wasn't trying to give her the correct answer. I wanted to give her the truth. The trouble was, I wasn't even so sure what that was, what it meant, until I remembered what Boss had told me once.

"When you turn your blade on somebody who can't defend themselves, you stop being a soldier. You become a killer. A true soldier doesn't fight because he hates what's in front of him, but because he loves what's behind him. A real wouldn't turn his blade on the weak, but a killer would, and I know whose side I'd take."

The answer seemed to not only satisfy her but impress her in a way. I cleared the bead of sweat that had grown on my forehead in anticipation of her response which luckily, had been unwarranted.

She looked off in the distance for a while, at the inner hull of the _Patriot. _I wondered what she was thinking as I looked off down the catwalk, but in reality, was looking at her with the corner of my eyes, comparing how much different she looked now than from when I first saw her almost a month and a half ago.

She'd been so skinny, clearly underfed. Her nose was broken, and she wore the bruises on her like a soldier wore armor, hiding behind them, terrified. Yet now, she looked alive, she looked happy even. Her hair had grown out. She wore it in a braid she jokingly promised to teach to me one day to one side of her head, going down around 5 inches past her shoulder. She eventually had managed to fit into our smallest size of clothing now that she was finally getting some weight on her. And she wore it well, wore it with such comfort and confidence despite everything that had happened in her past, as though this was her new chance.

It was a new chance for everybody. I tried to forget those early days in the army, and the things I'd done. I tried to forget the face of the first girl I forced myself on. A "rite of passage" my first squad, Killian Squad, had called it. She was terrified, and I didn't enjoy a minute of it. I tried to stop myself from finishing, as though that would be my silent protest to what the rest of the soldiers, no, monsters, had wanted me to do, and was ashamed when I did. I regretted that day ever since.

I got my second chance when Boss found me and made a request with my CO to have me put into Squad Iron Fire. The reassignment was approved, and I was able to leave that past behind. I learned 3 days later that Killian Squad had been wiped out in an Earth Kingdom ambush. I shed no tears for me, but I did for that girl, and how terrified she was, of me. And that was the worst part of it. There was no feeling worse in the world than having somebody look at you and having their first reaction be that of fear.

But when Ka'lira looked at me, like she did just then when her eyes met mine for a small moment and she smiled, I knew what I wanted somebody to think when I saw me. I knew what I wanted **her **to feel when she saw me. When I saw her, I saw somebody who was able to go through so much yet become stronger for it, and I admired her for that, for the amazing, strong, beautiful person I saw next to me.

I wanted to say just as much until Ka'lira turned her head to where I was looking and said, "Ah. There's the man of the hour."

I saw who she was referring to as Luke dismounted the ladder leading down, already seemingly overwhelmed by the heat below decks, pulling off his overcoat accordingly. _Damn. Just a few more minutes would've been nice._

"What the hell is that heat?" Luke complained as droplets of sweat could already be seen forming on him.

"That is the heat of big business my friend," I said, laughing off my missed opportunity. _Next time, _I promised myself. "And you are to be our errand boy," I finished, handing him the shopping list.

He looked over it. "I don't know what half of this stuff even fucking means."

"That's why our job is to find civilization and find somebody who does," Ka'lira responded. "Guess we should get going." She turned to me. "Wish you were coming along, Zek. But I guess the _Patriot _will be your date for the day."

"You wish. Accompanying a woman while shopping. I almost feel bad for you, Luke."

Luke had no desire to enter the banter and was merely watching in amusement as he ascended the ladder.

"Oh don't get jealous. Next time I'm taking you along with me. I'll let you buy me something nice" she finished with a blink.

And by the time I had fully comprehended what she was saying, she was gone. "Wait," I heard myself say to nobody in particular. "Was she flirting with me?"

**Luke**

It always was an experience in itself to turn Shanzi on, letting her motor come to life all around you as the small lights in the tank flickered on with the engine's hum to life.

In front of me, yet even more mechanical might was sounding as the forward ramp of _The Patriot _lowered until stabbing into the mucky earth below us. I heard Ka'lira climb into the tank behind me as she maneuvered her way past the gunner's seat into the passenger area next to me, finally settling into place and taking out the empty sheet of paper we were supposed to map the terrain on as we went ahead.

"You ever been in one of these before?" I asked Ka'lira.

"Once or twice. Zek would drive me once and a while."

I grinned. _Of course he does. _"Well I don't drive like Zek. So you may want to buckle in."

She accommodated my wish willingly enough, setting down the paper and quill on the dashboard as she reached around her to strap in both one brace around her shoulder, and the other around her waist.

When I heard the sound of the buckle, I let _Shanzi's _might come to life as we moved ahead, rolling naturally down the ramp without the aid of any engine, and came to a crashing halt on the earth terrain, but we weren't some primitive ostrich horse-drawn carriage. This was a Fire Nation tank, and the treads rolled against the mud, digging their talons into the deep earth, gaining traction where there was none, pulling us ahead off of the beachhead, into the shroud of the forest ahead of us.

I could see next to me that Ka'lira was still trying to become acclimatized with the sudden change in atmosphere she found herself in, the motion all around her, almost sickening. I knew the feeling, remembered my first drive back in Citadel. I was too young for the infantry then. Those tanks were my only way into the war and out of that forsaken city. Didn't mean I didn't find myself fighting outside of the tank more often than not, but I wouldn't have changed a thing. It got me away from Citadel, and that's what mattered.

We rolled ahead in the mud. I only realized a few minutes of grinding riding that I still had the handbrake on and that I was in the complete wrong gear. _Yeah. It's been a while. _

As we drove ahead now, I could see that her shock wasn't coming from her unfamiliarity with the vehicle, but, as she confirmed with a later question, possibly my driving. "So, how long have you been driving these?"

I grinned to myself. _Enough. _But I wanted to mess around with her. "Oh I was trained in how to use these. Don't worry."

"In how to drive, right?"

"Oh not at all. I was the gunner. You know, one who shot people while others did the driving."

She went green. "Oh."

I chuckled to myself as Ka'lira struggled to find a stable surface on which to draw her maps, but the silence of the tank, silence being a funny word considering the ear-shattering sound of the engine, was starting to get to me. So I yelled over it to ask, "So you and Zek. What's going on there?"

It was worth the struggle it cost my lungs just to see her go red on the other side of the tank as she tried to remain nonchalant when asking, "What do you mean?"

"I mean. I don't want to have to worry about where I'm sitting in this tank."

I didn't think that it was possible for her to get redder, but in that moment, she did, and the lines between red from embarrassment and red from anger became very blurred.

"What?! No! Me and Zek! No! And definitely not in the tank! Not that we, I-."

It was becoming all the more difficult to keep myself from bursting into laughter, but, inevitably, I failed, and I broke down into laughter that showed itself through my driving as I failed to keep a straight path, only getting her all the more angry with me.

"You know," she said. "I really didn't realize that your naturally, non-depressed self, was a complete asshole."

I allowed myself to laugh yet again. It felt good. Being able to do that. I'd forgotten the last time I'd laughed. Had it been something Danev said? Maybe even something Reek said? "Yeahhhhhhhh. Sorry about. I finally remembered how much fun it is to fuck around with people. And how did **you **know that I didn't always used to be a depressed piece of shit?"

"Zek would tell me about it."

"Awwww. He would tell you stories about me. That's sweet."

"There wasn't much else to do when we were cleaning your bed of your piss and sh-"

"Okayyyyy. That's enough to that. Did **not** need to hear that."

It was me who was going red, and her who was laughing now. "That was mean," I said.

"That was payback."

"Fair enough. Sorry, if it's not too late."

"You're forgiven."

"Can we at least have the mutual understanding that what happened in my room stays in that room?"

"It's not me you have to worry about. Zek's the loudmouth."

"Well fuck me, then. The one person on this ship I can't keep quiet."

Ka'lira chuckled. "I'll talk to him. Make sure that incident doesn't become ingrained in our codex."

"I'd appreciate that."

"So if you don't mind me asking, what was going on in that head of yours for the last 6 days?"

"That…is a great question."

"What, you don't remember?"

"Oh, I remember, but to try to describe what I saw and what I heard in there, well, I'm not ready for you to look at me like I'm a complete fucking lunatic just yet, you get me?"

"That's fair."

It was a wonder how Ka'lira was balancing the difficult tasks of making conversation, handling the terrain and the rickety nature of the tank, and still managing to be inscribing an accurate map, at least, I assumed it was accurate, because we'd already been coming quite a long ways in the tank. If we continued off in this direction, we should still be going north. _I wonder where the nearest town is._

As more time passed, it was her to bring up conversation, mostly starting with how I got into the war. I kept out some of the more intimate details, talking about how I was rescued by the army from the slums in Citadel and put in the army.

"You didn't get a choice then, to join the army?"

"You mean if they asked me if I wanted to join or not, not particularly."

"And you don't feel any kind of anger for that? Despite everything that happened in the war?"

"If I wanted to look at everything that's happened in my life with the gift of hindsight, the first people I'd blame would be my parents, whoever they are, for bringing me into this world in the first place, but at the time, the army seemed like the better life, and as far as I'm concerned, it still was. Whatever it took to get out of that city, I would have done."

She nodded, moving the topic along to "So how did you meet these guys? Boss, Gordez, Zek?"

_Real clever. Putting Zek at the end there. Very aloof._

I decided not to play by her rules and save some time by going straight to the point and saying, "It was Zek at first who really made me feel welcome. I wasn't exactly the most receptive at the time though. I'd just lost my first squad and the few friends I had there and wasn't exactly the most willing to make any new friends any time soon." Then I decided I wasn't done screwing with her. "Besides. Their more nocturnal activities. I wasn't too fond of. Granted, I hadn't been at war nearly as long as them and hadn't been driven to such desperation just yet."

"Wait. What do you mean?"

"I'll ask that you don't judge them **too **harshly. You're in the trenches more months on end, years in some of their cases. You have needs, you know? And sometimes, those needs are put into practice, no matter how abnormal they may seem. **Not **that I'm judging. I'm just saying-"

"Wait wait wait wait. You mean they-? With each other? Do they still? Not that it matters to me, but-"

I was trying to just stare ahead at the road, focusing on the most minute details to try to keep myself from bursting out in laughter again, but it was simply not going to happen, and my guise went down, proceeded by me just bursting into another pulse of laughter.

"Wow. You are such a dick. You're aware of that, right?"

"Oh, I know. Man, I've missed this."

I saw her roll her eyes from the corner of mine, getting distracted by the amusing sight to the point that I almost missed the hazard of the tree falling down directly in front of us. I brought us to as sudden a stop as I could, sending us both colliding with our seat restraints which, thankfully, were on.

"Well." She said. "That was sudden."

"Bit too sudden, yeah?"

I tried putting us in reverse, but we were locked in place, I couldn't move.

"Why aren't we moving?"

"No idea." I looked outside through the small hatch. It looked clear enough. "Stay here."

I unbuckled myself from where I was seating, clambering over the driver seat to the gunner's hatch, opening it with my left hand while unsheathing my sword with my right, and I stepped out, looking down at the treads that were caught in a metallic chain that had gotten caught in the machinery. _What the hell?_

"What's the problem?" Ka'lira asked from behind me. _I told you to stay inside. _But it was too late. I heard the bushes rumbling to my right, my left, above me. I drew my sword, but it would do no good against the 2, 3, 5, 9, 11, 14, and counting figures as they emerged from the bushes and the tree branches, drawn bows trained on my position. A split-second awareness told me not to form a flame in my left hand. I didn't know who these people were, but something told me they weren't friend with the Fire Nation, and that gave me hope. A hope that eroded when Ka'lira yelped for help as she was dragged off of the tank, and I felt a blow to the back of the head tat sent me to the ground, with darkness in my eyes.


	18. Chapter 15: The Deal with the Devil

**Luke**

Something woke me up, and all I saw was black. The color black. I made the motions of trying to open my eyes, but nothing seemed to change. I wondered if my eyes were even opening or just felt as though they were. Going through the same motions yielded no results. Black was the only thing I could see, except for…except for a haze. A haze of light. Orange, yellow, colors dancing in a small shade, a layer of darkness between us. _Cloth. _I had a hood around my head. I could feel its material. Was I blindfolded, or hooded? In a rather juvenile move, I stuck my tongue out, but when it touched more fabric, I knew I had a hood around my head.

Then I felt an impact against my head. Something told me it wasn't the first time. I think I'd deciphered how I'd been woken up. "I said wake up, fucker!"

"I'm up, damnit!" I muttered, not allowing myself to show the fear I was certainly feeling. I'd been in situations like this before, in Citadel, but back then, I'd known who had me captive. That's how it worked there. No need for secrecy, espionage, they wanted you to know who had the power to nab you off the streets with impunity. But not this time. And that's what scared me. I had no idea who I was talking to. No image to work off of. So I had to make my own.

I was kneeling, my legs were tied at the ankles and at my wrists behind my back. Rope. _Not cuffs. I'm not under arrest. At least not by Fire Nation. They like their cuffs. Or maybe I am, but I'm just not in any formal institution, which could very well mean more bad news for me_. No overlooking eye, not conventions of war that weren't exactly followed anyway, but served as some comfort in time such as these. I didn't have enough to work off of, but I did have the creaking beneath my feet. _Wood. And it was unsupported. No dirt beneath us. We were on a platform. A second story? _"About damn time" the voice said again.

_Young voice. Some boy trying to sound older than he was. Not like I'm one to talk. I'm no different. A small tree trying to give off a large shadow. _"Can you hear me?"

"I can't see anything right now." I know he asked not if I could see, but if I could hear, but I wanted to think that if I made it seem as though sight was the issue at stake, they'd at least give me some wiggle room in that regard.

They didn't.

"I didn't ask if you could see. I asked if you could fucking hear me."

"In that case, I can hear you just fine." _Damn._

"And you can talk too. Good. So I'm going to answer some questions. And you're going to give me some answers. First and foremost. What's your name? And don't try lying to me. We already asked your lady friend and she told us what we want to know."

And now multiple new possibilities arose. Some worse than others. The first possibility, the least likely of them all. He was telling the truth. He interrogated Ka'lira, and learned everything he needed to know from her, and I was just here to confirm what they already knew. But as I said, that was the least likely possibility. There were 2 ways he slipped up, but the way in which he slipped up opens the question of whether he was making mistakes accidentally, or with a purpose. For one, he started off by saying he already knew the truth, and just wanted to hear it from me. Normally, one would let the captive say his part first **without **knowing his partner had already spoken, so the interrogator could try to catch him in a lie and get a better sense of who he was questioning. But then came in the second slip-up. He didn't use Ka'lira's name, which begged the question, did he really get any information out of her, or a worse question, was she even alive? I had multiple options now. I could tell the truth, which wasn't going to happen. I could lie my ass off and see where it got me, or, I could play him the way he was playing me. I was trying to make my own image after all.

"Katia" I asked, thinking of some name that sounded Earth Kingdom off the bat. "Where is she?"

He paused. The pause could have meant 3 things, he was trying to figure out who I meant, he was taking a moment to remember the name to act like he knew I meant the girl, or he knew I was full of shit, but his next answer allowed me to eliminate the latter at the very least. "She's okay." Of course, that in itself was no assurance. She could be dead for all I know.

"I want to see her. Make sure she's alive."

"I can make her scream if you want."

"How 'bout I make **you**?" And I meant it. I was allowing the flame to build up in my hands, ready to burn through the rope regardless of the potential nationalistic sympathies of my captors. A similar fire grew in my breath in a technique I'd only heard about, but had been trying to learn on my own, but I wanted to think I had enough in me to be a dragon in this moment, both metaphorically, and literally. I heard him stand from where he was sitting, accompanied by the unsheathing of a blade, an overreaction on normal occasions, but this wasn't a normal occasion.

Then a door opened. To the right. Wood. Rickety. The entire structure was wood. "Jet!" I heard a new voice call. "We finished interrogating the girl." I then heard the boy, Jet, sheathe his blade again as he said, in his surprise from the sudden visit, "Kai, I wasn't expecting you yet." I let the flames in me die down. _You got lucky, kid._

"You get anywhere with him yet?" _So she's alive and he's an idiot, or she's possibly dead or alive and he's a genius, using casual conversation to make me think their guard is down so I'd believe what they're saying._

"I'm getting close. I swear he's about to break."

I decided to fuck with the kid. I already knew their names. Let's see if they can break before I do. "You kidding me? Your boy, Jet doesn't even know my name yet."

"Shut up!"

"Sit down, Jet." Kai said. "Let the pros handle this."

"Handle away." I said, smirking, though he couldn't see it. That was then the fist came, knocking me down backwards from where I was kneeling, and I finally felt the pull of something else, something new around my neck. A rope. I was being hung up from somewhere. The ceiling? And the wood beneath me. I was on a trapdoor. And things suddenly became a lot more serious.

"By now, I want to think you've noticed the noose around you're neck. You're kneeling on wooden trapdoor hundreds of feet in the air. You do something stupid like that, you become our new favorite decoration to warn other Fire Nation assholes like you that these are **our **forests."

"I'm not Fire Nation." I would have added 'dipshit', but a new awareness of my surroundings prevented me from doing so.

"I don't believe you, but we'll get to that later. First. I want to know your name. What is it? And no making shit up. We talked to Ka'lira."

_Fuck. At least she's alive. Or __**was**__._

"Luke."

"Now that just sounds like a made-up name."

"That's because it is." _Did Ka'lira lie for me? Or was he playing games?_

"Then what's your real goddamn name?" _Yeah. She lied for me. _I smiled beneath the hood, but I was building trust here. So I'd tell the convenient truths, but make them sound like lies, because a good liar knew how to make his truths sound like deceit, so his lies sounded all the more honest.

"Don't have one. Or at least I don't remember it."

"You an anchor baby or some shit?"

An anchor baby, a nice little slang for babies born to pirates, traders, or passing sailors in the navy. A good guess for where we were geographically.

"Close enough. I was born in a slum."

"Where?"

"To the east of here." _Northeast to be precise. The vaguer your truths, the more you can get away with when it comes time to lie._

"How did you get here?"

"We drove. I believe you knew that part already."

"You really want to get smart with me?"

"Shipwreck. We're marooned."

"And what kind of ship is it?" _Could you be any more obvious? He wants to catch me in a lie so damn badly. He's probably here just for the fun of being able to make some grand spiel about how he knows I'm lying because A, B, C. He's overly cocky. So I'll let him have his fun._

"An old Earth Kingdom carrack we found a few years back." Then there was a pause. _Oh boy. Here we go. I'm willing to bet anything he has this cocky grin on his face, and he's about to walk up real close to me and say- _"Here's how I know you're lying," He whispered into my ears. _Called it._

"Your girlfriend, Ka'lira, she tried lying to us too." _I bet he has such a huge stupid fucking smirk on his face._ "She told us you came here on frigate that you hitched a ride on, but I knew better than that. Because, as clever as you are, and pretty clever, I'll give you that, you're not clever enough for me." _I was trying so damn hard not to laugh my ass off behind that hood. I was even biting on my lip to suppress it. _"We had scouts who've had our eyes on you from the moment you came ashore in that little lagoon you're all beached in-that Fire Nation ship of yours. These woods are ours, and there's nowhere you can hide where we won't see you, and we proved just as much. We counted the lot of you. 6 of you. Small crew for a small ship, but nothing we can't handle. Especially now that we have two of you here for ourselves, **and **your tank. I commend your effort to defend your Fire Nation comrades though, but it won't be enough. The girl will be upset to hear you made the same slip as her." He was so damn proud of himself. _Have your victory moment yet? Good. Laugh it up, asshole. I learned more from this 'slip up' of mine than you did. Chief among them, Ka'lira is alive. I've seen victory highs like his, and he was in no state for bluffs._

"Still not Fire Nation"

"Enough!" He took a moment to regain his cool. "So," he said, returning to the business at hand. "I'm going to ask you. One. More. Time. Who. Are. You? And what are your crew? Spies, assassins, got lost from your blockade?"

"Well first you're going to have to accept that we're not Fire Nation."

"Liars!" _So Ka'lira defended us too. Good. _"I see your armor. Your tank. You're Fire Nation!"

"We're salvagers. We salvage shit." _I was risking it all on this lie. The last lie, the one I let fail, that was in my control, but this lie was out of it. I had no idea what he knew now and what he didn't. How much Ka'lira said or didn't say. If I got caught here, things could go horribly, but if he slipped up, I would be in a great position. And sure enough…_

"That's funny. Ka'lira said you were traders." _Idiot. Even if that's what she said, you've left me in the perfect position to play off of what she said. You should have said that she admitted what you believed us to be: Fire Nation agents, mercenaries working for them, anything, but instead…traders? You're an idiot, Kai._

"Well I don't know where she got that idea from," I said. "We don't do trading, just salvaging." I wished I didn't have the hood on just to be able to see the heat that was so obviously emitting from his face, but in continued all the same, confident that if I felt the door move beneath me, I could burn through the ropes around my hands and neck in time, assuming the fall didn't break my neck. "We just like to gather scrap metal, spare parts, hammers, rusty nails, and put them in a big pile for us to jump in and make scrap angels. Of course we're also traders, you dumbass."

Then just like Jet, I felt the footsteps come close to me. _Here we go again. _But they stopped when the door opened for a second time, and the attention suddenly shifted from me to-

"Commander, sir!" The two voices said at the same time, spinning on their feels to face him. _Military ranks. But certainly not military. Militar__**ized**__, but not military. Resistance, likely._

More than one pair of feet entered the room. Two? Three? More? "At ease." He didn't say their names. He was smarter than that. And his voice, quiet, but not wispy, still strong, not as youthful, lower by a lot, but never weak. "Having some trouble here? I heard quite an awful amount of yelling."

"He's being stubborn, but I'm almost there."

"That's what the last one said before he got replaced." I commented. I was here to test the new man entering the room. And unless he was a complete psychopath, which his voice didn't convey to me, I didn't think the comment would result in me becoming a ceiling decoration any time soon. In fact, I believe I heard a chuckle from the man. Something that could've been a bad sign as much as a good one.

"Why is there a bag on his head?"

"We hooded him, so he didn't see the way here in case he woke up," Kai said.

"We're already here, are we not? So why is it still over his head?"

"Yes sir." I let the smile on my face die before the hood was removed, so as to ensure I didn't cause any more trouble then than I had to. Then the light of the room came to life. We were in a wooden hut. I saw the support beams. We were attached to a tree, likely multiple connected with a series of catwalks, judging by how easily the visitors walked in. And the supports seemed strong by how easygoing they seemed with 6 people in one room of a treehouse. There were 5 men in the room. The one closest to me, Kai, who was now walking back, was probably around 14 to 15 years old. He had spiky brown hair, and a thick set stature. To the back left of the room was the face I associated with the name Jet. His skin tan. His hair brown. His eyes black. The same age as me by the looks of him. _What is that even? 12. What is it? Spring yet? 13? Who the hell knows anymore? _Then there was the only real man in the room. His hair was gray and cut short. His beard was short too, only long enough to cover his cheeks, chin, and upper mouth. He had striking blue eyes as well that contrasted his pale white skin. He was flanked by two more boys, older than the rest, but no older than 16 or 17.

He moved to where Jet was sitting on a small chair, asking, "May I? My back isn't as good as it used to be." Jet shot up as though it was his highest honor to surrender his seat to the man, carrying the chair to where I sat, and seating it in front, so the old man could sit. "Thank you."

He settled down in his chair, adjusting to the point that he was comfortable where he was seated, which took around the whole of a minute until he found himself in a good enough position. I was unsure if the time he was taking was designed to make me more anxious, because it was working. I can deal with young, stupid, unpredictable, but this was different, this was wise, experienced, something I more than lacked.

He was looking at me now, investigating me, up and down, left and right, until he said, "I'm sorry if my followers treated you harshly. They are youthful and still have much to learn in the way of hospitality. I'm afraid their eagerness gets ahead of them sometimes. They may be young, but the fire of passion in them burns strong.

"I've dealt with worse."

"I do not doubt that. I can see it in your eyes. You have seen much of the world. More than a mere salvager or trader, yes?"

"You have good ears, don't you?"

"When you live, nature all around you, and nothing but your senses to survive, you learn to use them to your advantage at all times. I also know your name is Luke. Made that up, did you?"

"It's a whole story." I thought of Mini at that moment and for some reason, felt sad about it all over again.

"I can imagine. You'll have to tell me one of these days. I'd like to, at the very least, get off to a good start with you. I know your name, mine is Kiu. That's Jet, Kai, and my two bodyguards are Kanji and Tonik." _I saw what he was doing. False sense of security. Making me feel welcome, like I was a guest, not a prisoner._

"I know what you're thinking. That no matter how nice I talk, at the end of the day, you're still a prisoner here." _Smart man. I didn't verify nor refute his claim._

"No matter, but you are no salvager. I know that much. So what are you then, lad?"

_I wasn't going to get away with the same outright lies that worked on the others. Half-truths and half lies would have to suffice for now. I could make up fake details and stay consistent if I had to, but I'd rather avoid that as long as possible. _"We're mercenaries."

"You and your crew?"

"They're not **my **crew, but yes."

"And you're the ones with the Fire Nation ship out there?"

"Yeah. A destroyer."

"Those were out phased."

"Well I'm sorry that we're not up to date on the latest naval fashion trends."

"What was your last job?"

I knew better than to talk about the job at Jianghe, so instead I went back further, saying, "We helped a small fishing village fight off some sea raiders."

"How noble of you. You ever take work from the Fire Nation?"

"Back in the day, maybe, but that would've been months to a year ago." I didn't dare bring up anything that implied actions against the Earth Kingdom, so I settled by saying, "Mostly serving as security in the colonies. It was easy work then. Fighting off bandits and raiders who wanted easy pickings, but then the Fire Nation stepped up their advance with the Siege, and after that, wanted us to cover their retreat, scorched earth, all that stuff. Didn't sit right with us."

"We heard about an incident a few weeks back. Some Fire Nation mercenaries stopped the Earth Kingdom from occupying Jianghe. Bloody battle, that business."

"Don't know anything about that. We cut off our work with the Fire Nation long ago. Must've been one of those other mercenary bands. The Bleeding Suns, Dragonborn, -"

"The Rough Rhinos" interjected Jet, and a cold silence fell over the room as none spoke, and a few pairs of eyes turned to him where he leaned against the wall, seething by the looks of him. _Either they've had run ins with the Rough Rhinos before, or it's a very clear part of that kid's life. _I didn't know much about the Rough Rhinos, only enough to tell me how their depictions changed. In the Fire Nation, they were heroes of legends, with their own books, plays, toys, festival costumes, you name it. They were the source of festivities and joy. In the Earth Kingdom on the other hand, they were the thing of nightmares, the stories parents told their kids to get them to behave well and go to bed on time. During festivals, they weren't the subject of costumes to scare the monsters away. They **were **the monsters.

"Them too," the old man said, almost apologetically.

"One of them," I finished. "But not us. We don't work with killers like them. Not anymore. Fighting a war is one thing. Targeting the innocent, that's another."

"A moral mercenary, eh? But you **do **still work for the pay, do you not?"

"Indeed we do. Something we have in common; I imagine."

Kai spoke up now, heated, yelling, "How dare you!" until he was silenced by Kiu with an upraised hand so as to tell him, "It's okay."

He then returned his attention to me, saying, "We do not fight for profit or glory. We fight to restore this land's proper leadership: The Earth Kingdom, to the people here who have been oppressed by Fire Nation occupation for long enough."

"But I don't imagine you just walk away without receiving some compensation for your efforts."

"We receive aid to help us in our fight, be it food, water,-"

"Weapons, armor, coin, same as us."

"Weapons, armor, and coin from fishermen?"

"You asked what our last job was. I never said it was our most glorious. We've taken jobs for the Earth Kingdom too. The materiel comes from them. The fishing village. Well. They mostly just gave us fish."

Kiu chuckled. It seemed lighthearted, but for some reason, it unnerved me, and that was probably due to what he said next. "I think we might just get along. I think we're going to get along just nicely. Jet, get the girl. Kai, put the hood back on him. We're going for a walk. And so the darkness returned, and that's just what it was: one color. Black. But the hood meant something else in addition to the darkness. It meant that I wasn't dead. Not yet.

**Zek**

Tending to the ship was nothing short of pain staking work. The work itself was enough to make a man sweat, but below decks, in the engine room, it didn't help. We were making the most of what little tools and material we have on board, but the truth was, we weren't going to be going anywhere until Luke and Ka'lira came back with what we needed. And really, while the tools might be possible to obtain from a nearby settlement, the parts we needed, the scrap metal, none of us really had much faith in finding that at a local vendor.

And the truth was, the work would have been far more bearable had Ka'lira been here as well. Being able to get lost in conversation with her while working away on whatever I had too, hours could turn into seconds, and a day's work could become a few minutes of good conversation. The time always just seemed to speed ahead where she was involved. And right now, it would've been nice to have her around. _Those two should be getting back soon now, right? _Obviously, a part of me wasn't the most enthused about having her go out on something like this was Luke. Not to any discredit of Luke. It could have been any guy, but it was just that irrational jealousy over somebody who wasn't even mine to be jealous over. _But I can't be the only one who feels that way? Right. I swear I can see the way she looks at me. Or maybe it's just my own reflection I see._

I pushed the thoughts aside. I had to stay focused on my own work right now. I didn't have the time to get carried away by pointless thoughts like these. I was in the engine deck, stripping off metal panels that seemed to have sustained damage, and to investigate the machinery between the panels to ensure the damage didn't extend there as well. It was painstaking work. Lots of heavy lifting, but I wasn't a stranger to work. Much less was Gordez. He'd been working since morning and hadn't even stopped for lunch, and dinner was quickly approaching, but something told me that food for him would be waiting until his work here was done, which would be days, but I couldn't bring myself to doubt his resolve in that regard. This ship was his baby. And he'd give his life for her. I could say that much with complete certainty. I smiled to myself. I had the feeling Gordez would make a great boyfriend, and eventual husband and father, assuming he was capable of transferring his affection of machinery to his own family. Which was a big "if".

I got up from where I was kneeling, wiping the sweat off my brow, begging for a cool breeze to come in, except I'd be getting none down here. I looked around, begging to see the skies, the rustling trees, but nothing. I was going stir crazy. I needed to go outside.

"Gordez," I said. I'm going to take a break. That alright?"

"Go ahead. Not like I can stop you."

"I'll be right back. Thanks"

As I turned to leave, I heard Kosah, or was it Zadok, asking, "Can we go too?"

"No."

"You let Zek go!" said the other, whoever they were.

"Zek's not my subordinate. You two are. So get back to work. I'll release you once you do your job right?"

I grinned, glad that my days being under Gordez were gone. As long as I'd known him, Gordez had always been Boss's right-hand man. The two of them were Navy men, so there was some inherent bond between them that you couldn't explain with words. Plus, they were the closest in age. Boss was 19. Gordez, though he'd never said his age, I'd put him at 18, already sporting whiskers that threatened to become a bear any day now. When I'd first been put in Iron Fire, Boss had put me under Gordez's direct command. Gordez was never social, he wasn't loud, harsh, mean, or anything along those lines, but he was stubborn, and expected the same dedication he put into something, which was a lot. I'd been kept up nights at a time to try to make repairs to damage to his tank, not the _Shanzi_, that he claimed was my fault to begin with. Hizo, by sheer happenstance, happened to be officially transferred to Iron Fire. By that time, Boss had decided I didn't need Gordez anymore, and he assigned me my own tank with Chez and Haz. A few months later, and Hizo threatened that he'd rather jump off of the walls of Ba Sing Se than take another order from Gordez, we all laughed, and Hizo was assigned to my tank. And that was the day I told him that the tank's name was _Shanzi _and he'd threatened to rip my throat out to defend the honor of his Yu Dao girlfriend who'd slept with, and I'd counted, 5 other men, begging for forgiveness, and promptly being forgiven by Hizo just as many times. I smiled back on the memories as I walked out on the deck, trying not to remember how my relationship with him had met its end. Maybe one of these days I'd get back to Yu Dao, see Shanzi, and give her the note that Hizo had had for her in his pocket the day he died in Citadel.

On the deck as well was Boss and Jadoh, leaning over the rail, crossbows in hand, watching the treeline for either our returning comrades, or something that required the use of such weapons to deal with. "Fresh air?" Boss asked.

"Fresh air," I confirmed.

"Then take a seat and get a load off." Jadoh said. "We're the ones with the easy jobs here. You sure Gordez doesn't want the extra help?"

"Gordez isn't fond of leaving our rears unattended. Besides. I think he's enjoying having Kosah and Zadok for himself to torment."

"Oh they'll be fine. They just have to wait until somebody new joins or merry band of mercenaries, then they'll be favorites just like I am."

I smiled. Jadoh was growing on me ever since Jianghe. He now knew enough to understand that he had much to learn and no long was the same cocky brat we'd picked up in that nameless fishing village, where I'm sure he'd been the best swordfighter among their old men and starving women. "I'd hardly call you a favorite, Jadoh," I said, smiling so he knew I was joking. Not like I had to. He'd been making a lot of progress in abandoning that short fuse of him.

"Not yet, you mean. You'll find in due time just how charming I am."

"Oh, I'm sure." I leaned against the railing next to where Jadoh was seated, stretching, letting the cool late winter or early spring breeze wash over me, the smell of the sea intoxicating, liberating.

"Hey, alter today," Jadoh started. "Want to get some more sparring done? I think I've made some progress these last few days."

"Oh you think, do you?" I smirked. "We'll see about that. You're on."

"It's a date then, but don't tell Ka'lira. I don't want her to get jealous of what we have between us."

"It'll be our little secret then." It was good to be able to have more people to joke with. One thing I'd noticed on this ship, everybody was lighthearted, humorous, except maybe for Boss and Gordez. Which I supposed was needed. We needed that balance, the ones to make sure we never lost ourselves to a good laugh. The ones to keep us in the here and now, just like Boss did when he said, "Machinery ahead. They're coming back."

I heard the noise now. The sputtering of the engine as it tugged along. He stood up, bow in hand. He knew he'd said they were coming back, but there was no such thing as overly cautious. Jadoh got up from where he was sitting, leaving one hand on the bow as he leaned over the railing, looking ahead to try to catch that first glimpse of _Shanzi _emerging from the forest.

And there it was, emerging from the forest, just as it should have, but instead of driving forward, to the lowered ramp, it stopped in place, about 100 feet away from our deck so they weren't in our shadow. _What are they doing? _

And where I expected the head of either Luke or Ka'lira to poke out of the tank, it was a face I didn't recognize, a young kid, and after him an older man, white hair and beard, the two of them armored in leather. We didn't know what to think yet. We were just pausing, not doing anything, still not sure what the hell we were observing. _Was it another tank? No. That was Shanzi, alright. _And we knew as much when a third man exited the vehicle, another young man, and the two of them went behind the tank, escorting two bound prisoners: Luke and Ka'lira. And now there was no questioning what we were looking at. Boss and Jadoh aimed there bows while I shambled backwards to where we kept our weapons and archery targets for practice, grabbing the nearest crossbow and nocking a bolt, running back to join Boss's defensive line as he yelled out to them, "Who the hell are you and what the hell are you doing?"

The man didn't speak, and I wondered if we were about to start shooting. They weren't too far off. I could take out the old man, but getting the two hostage takers while keeping our own unharmed, that was different, especially when the 10, 20, 30, no, more figures began emerging from the forests, armed in swords, spears, crossbows, all manner of weaponry. "It may be in both of our best interests that nobody here starts shooting!" The old man called out. "Or there will be very negative outcomes for both of us." At that moment, the rustling of leaves could be heard, drawing our attention to the trees as hooded archers emerged from the leaves, balanced on branches, bows aimed at us, one in the middle, likely their leader, wearing a circular straw hat, a bow with three arrows aimed directly at us, provoking Boss's aim to be trained on him now.

"That would be Longshot, our archer. You can aim at him all you want. You wouldn't be able to hit him, but he'd most definitely be able to hit you."

Boss could see just how outnumbered we were, and that a single shot fired would mean the death of us all, but he wasn't about to surrender the only advantage he had: a killing shot at their leader, something we all prayed this new threat wouldn't be willing to risk. "Who are you and what do you want?"

"We came here to ask the exact same question, but we cannot productively do that with our weapons drawn on one another like we're in some sort of definite standoff."

"Lower yours then we lower ours!" Boss called. Then man nodded, turning to his men on the ground who lowered their weapons, and promptly to his snipers in the trees, who shortly did the same. Boss nodded his head at us to do the same. Building trust. A battle meant death. Every second until then had to be used the best way possible. The **only **way possible.

"We just want to talk," the old man called. "My name is Kiu. The two young men holding your friends are Jet and Kai. They've been instructed by me not to harm my friends, and they follow my orders, just as I'm sure your men follow yours."

Boss didn't bother trying to answer that, instead saying, "You can call me Boss. These two are-"

"Zek and Jadoh" I said. "I'm Zek." I spoke up because I wasn't sure what Boss had planned. If he planned to lie on our behalf. And if he did, and if they knew our names, then all the more risk that Luke and Ka'lira would be put in. I had my eyes on her the whole time. She had a bag over her head. They both did, but I knew it was them. I recognized her, her figure, the clothes she wore when she left this morning. And I wanted her to hear my voice, hoping that might be some small solace.

Boss looked at me, and his look told me that he'd planned on lying, and I'd ruined that. _I don't care. We don't know how much they know, and I'm not risking Ka'lira to protect my identity. _"So they are!" Boss agreed.

"We just want to talk to you. I believe we may have a lot in common regarding this struggle on the Earth Kingdom continent. As a show of good faith, that we come in peace, we will release on of our prisoners to you, the girl."

_Thank Raava._

"If you really want to come in good faith," Boss said. "You'll release them both." _My stomach tightened. Please don't antagonize them. Please don't make them rescind the offer. _

"And leave me with nothing? It is one think to invite a stranger into your home, but another to give him the keys. Be thankful for what I'm giving you so far." The boy that had been called Jet cut loose Ka'lira bindings and took off her hood. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw her. She seemed to be uninjured for the most part. I needed to see her closer to be sure. Jet said something to her, and she began walking towards us. More than anything, I wanted to run to her, to meet her halfway, especially when her eyes met mine from down below and she smiled at me, a sad smile. My body language must have said as much about my intentions as Boss had to look at me and shake his head so as to tell me, "Not yet."

I understood. All too well. And so I waited, excruciatingly, as silence dominated the small clearing, and Ka'lira was finally out of sight. Boss turned to me, and said silently enough so the enemy didn't hear, "Meet her halfway and get the others. Is the skill fueled?"

_The skiff? _"Uh-yeah. I think so."

"Good. Get her and the rest to it but tell Gordez to get up here." He turned to Jadoh. "Jadoh, when Gordez gets up here, I want you getting to the skiff as well."

"And leave you here?" _I felt ashamed that I hadn't been the one to ask that obvious question, but the sad truth was, my mind was on one thing right now, and that was making sure that Ka'lira was alright. _

"If things become a shootout, I want at least most of us to get away. You'll go along the coast until you find a Fire Nation ship or outpost, and you'll tell them what happened here."

"They'd execute you before they'd let the Fire Nation free you."

"We'll worry about that if it comes to it, but for now, get to the skiff, and it you hear shooting, you get out of here. Now Zek, go. Get Ka'lira and get ready to leave."

I nodded, running to the command structure, not worrying about how my haste appeared, flinging open the door, sliding down the ladder to the cargo deck where the ramp led in addition to the main deck, where she'd opted not to go, and right there, halfway through the cargo deck, was Ka'lira, who finished her home stretch with a spring as she ran into my arms. "They're Earth Kingdom. Tell Boss," she said, ever valiant, ever noble, ever loyal.

"It's fine. It's fine. We know."

"They still have Luke."

"He's going to be fine. We'll work it out. Ka'lira, you alright?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten caught. I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry."

I saw the glisten of dry blood against the side of her head where she'd been hit. That wasn't the extent of her bruises. She had cuts along her arms and legs. And she had dried blood at her mouth.

"Don't apologize. It's alright." I looked at her and her eyes, glistened by droplets of water, met mine. "I'm okay. I'm okay now." And she leaned forward and touched her lips to mine and stayed there for just long enough to tell me that it was no accident. And I let Boss's orders to me wait for just those few seconds of bliss as we stood there, in the darkness of the _Patriot, _where the rest of the world ceased to exist for just a small moment.

**Boss**

"Where'd you send the boy?"

"To see if she's injured."

"There is no permanent damage, but I apologize for what was done. My soldiers here are young and eager. They say innocence comes with youth, but so does passion and ferocity."

"Then you'll understand if I say the same about my own." I didn't know how he'd take it, but I meant it as a threat. If the blood of our own had been shed, then retribution would be demanded. But the whole reason I was talking was to avoid bloodshed. And so I continued. "You mentioned we had something in common. What's that?"

"We're fighting the Fire Nation." _So that's what Luke and Ka'lira had said to save their skins, and I suppose, ours too in the process. Smart._

"What of it?"

"Well. It just so happens we're on the same side. The Fire Nation hasn't been kind to us in the past, and we intend to return the favor. We've been here for the last 3 and a half years now, trying to help the Earth Kingdom south of the Nip Sea reclaim their territory here in the north.

"You're revolutionaries then."

"Freedom fighters."

"I've seen your kind before in all different varieties. I've seen freedom fighters who've stolen from the rich to give to the poor, and I've seen freedom fighters who've burnt villages to the ground in the name of, saving them, I suppose." The truth was, I'd never met the former kind of freedom fighter. It always begins noble, but before you know it, whether it was their plan or not, hundreds of innocents are lying dead by their feet, all in the name of freedom, but I guess that was freedom in its own ironic way.

"And I can assure you that we are not the latter. The Fire Nation's interest may be in ruling over the ashes of the Earth Kingdom, but it's our goal, our dream to liberate them before ash is all that's left."

I heard the clanging of boots behind me as Gordez arrived, Zek's crossbow on his back, immediately standing to my side, saying, "Zek sent me. What's going on?"

"It's under control. For now."

"Who's this new man you've brought?" asked Kiu.

"This is Gordez. My second in command."

"Zek, Gordez, these are all pretty Fire Nation names you have. What am I to make of that?"

"That you won't find a freedom fighter's spirit anywhere like you will in the colonies." It almost hurt to spit that out. It wasn't a total lie nor truth. Depended on the colony in play. Outlier colonies such as the Gao Bay colonies still maintained a degree of fealty to the Earth Kingdom, but the ones such as in Yu Dao, they represented a sense of real patriotism. More real than that of the Fire Nation. While the mainland celebrated its Nation for all of its deeds and misdeeds, a terrifying mix of nationalism and religious zeal, the core colonies represented a mix of Earth Kingdom culture and Fire Nation loyalty. It represented what I wish more of the Fire Nation would be like: patriotic, but not blind.

"So where does this leave us, then?" He asked.

"At the part where we make a deal."

"Agreed. I'm coming up. With two of my men and your boy, Luke. You have two of yours and I have two of mine. Seems fair."

"One of ours is leaving." I turned to Jadoh. "Go. Just in case."

"You expecting a fight?"

"I don't think so, but I don't want to risk it."

"Then I'm staying too."

"Jadoh."

"You can't stop me."

I sighed. He was definitely changing. That much was apparent, for better or worse. I turned to Kiu. "Two of yours. Two of mine. Come on up."

And a few moments later, they had taken the ramp all the way up to the main deck, and our two sides stood, facing one another. Jadoh and Gordez by my side, Jet and Kai by Kiu's, with Luke trailing behind, bag still on his head.

"So what deal do you have in mind?" I asked.

"We've been contracted by the Earth Kingdom forces down south to launch subversive activities against the Fire Nation here and pave the way for an Earth Kingdom landing force, but my men have been taking heavy casualties, and we lack the numbers to efficiently continue our operations. It seems that you have the skill, discipline, and armaments that we lack. We would like to become partners with you."

"A partnership implies we get something out of this too. Unless you plan on saying that not killing us in compensation enough."

"No. I'm not like that. I'm sorry for taking your people captive, but it's not to hold them for ransom to you."

"Then before we make a deal, how about you let him go, as another show of good will."

Kiu turned his face to Kai, nodded, and the hood was removed, and Luke's scratched, bruised, and tired head was still on his shoulders, but he never lacked for the amusement in his face. He was prodded on his back and sent over to our side the moment the bindings on his hands were cut.

I put a hand on his chest, stopping him before he could pass us, asking, "You alright?" And I swear, if the word "no" had been spoken, I was more than ready in that moment to kill the 3 men I saw in front of me. But fortunately for both of us in retrospect, Luke said, "It's but a scratch," smiling, and walking back to our side, turning to stand between Jadoh and Gordez who asked similar question soon, thereafter, inquiring as to their buddy's wellbeing.

"So what do you propose?" I ask.

"For one, we'll fix your ship. You'll have permanent allies here in the Nip Sea, and we'll get you an audience with the Earth Kingdom governors here, and plenty of access to future contracts once this is over. As for the loot we obtain from hostile forces, and the Earth Kingdom's payment of course, you'll get 10%."

"10%? Your forces are in disarray and, as you said, are undisciplined. You plan on using us as the knife's edge, and we'll do that, for half."

"Half of the payment for 6 men in comparison to my 114? You'll get 20%"

"40."

"Quarter."

"A third."

"Deal."

We extended his hand, and I shook it. And that was the moment I made a deal with the devil.


	19. Chapter 16: Zeal

**Junior Lieutenant Zhao**

I had never been demoted before. I committed my life to the Fire Nation armed forces when I was 18, being admitted into the Sozin Naval Academy by grace of my natural abilities and my family's influential role in the capital's administration. I graduated at 22, top of my class, a certified firebending prodigy. I was sectioned aside however before I could join the navy, hand chosen by a master, Jeong Jeong. He taught me for 8 more years while I continued my studies. He encouraged me to not focus only on the material side of war, but the spiritual as well. I listened to him. After those 8 years, when I was 30, having served a tour of duty in the Earth Kingdom in the army, I was a certified firebending master, and because of this, I was told I could have nearly any station I wanted. I could've been in the army, the up and coming air force, Azulon's personal guard even, but I chose the navy. I had always had a natural affinity for naval warfare. While I always aced my tactics exams, stomping over the competition at war games, and had even proved my ability to lead in the Earth Kingdom, it was the Navy where my true talents lied.

When I was 31, I was assigned to the Western Armada. And that was where my luck ran out. I was a career officer, you see. Got to where I was because of education rather than experience like many of the people I served beside. Made them spiteful towards me. Jealous even. I am 39. The longest a navy man can go without being considered for promotion is 8 years. I happened to be serving under an officer that, much like many of my associates, despised how I rose to my position. I was hoping that, by the end of this year of my service, my consideration would finally go through to higher command, and my record would speak to itself. I would be reassigned, transferred, put with a commander who would appreciate my talents. But one day ago, I took the greatest risk of my career. And I was now booted down to Junior Lieutenant.

Now, I was stationed aboard the _Ajax, _but that didn't mean it had to be the end of me, or for my career. I tried reminding myself of that as I ran inspection on the artillery emplacements lining the deck of my new post, movingly cautiously about the deck of the ship that was engulfed in a heavy fog, reducing visibility to near nothing. It was tedious work, it was a complete and utter waste of my skills, but I had dug my own grave. I was here because of my own lack of caution. Because, while I may have been in the right, I didn't follow proper procedure. And procedure was everything. So I went about my tasks, dutifully, loyally, not cutting corners, inspecting every book and cranny of the artillery emplacements, finding the smallest flaws or errors to log. It wouldn't make me popular among the men. It wouldn't make me their friend. But I had no intention of being such. A day ago, I had been higher ranking than most of them. And I would be again soon. And in due time, I would have my own command.

After around 2 hours, I ascended the command structure of the _Ajax, _ascending its spiraling staircase until getting to the command deck. One of the greatest improvements of the newer ship models, staircases instead of ladders. In older destroyers, equipment and supplies had to be brought up to higher levels by way of pullies. Meals would have to be prepared in the kitchen in the command structure and eaten in the same room, as it was near impossible to transport meals between levels unless they were packaged.

I stood in front of the door to the bridge, no steward there to meet me and take the report from me to deliver to General Shu. I stood still for a moment, wondering what proper procedure in a time such as this when a steward wasn't present to take a message. My mind scanned over every military protocol I had been forced to memorize, made to recite at my graduation ceremony alongside the rest of my class. 3 had failed, and those same 3 were booted from the academy on the day they were set to graduate, 4 years put to waste.

That had been 17 years ago, and my memory was no longer as sharp as it had used to be. I considered leaving it on the floor by the door for the steward to pick up, but this was considered an important military document, and if it so happened was Shu was next to leave the bridge and was forced to bend over to pick it up himself-_No. No._ Screw it. I knocked. I waited, feeling sweat building on my forehead until the door finally opened, revealing his steward. I handed the message to him, looking inside the bridge to see the General, and the chief captains of the fleet, standing around the central table, examining a map laid across it. I could overhear what they were just finishing saying, "-being hidden by the fog." As much as I wanted to know what was going on, it wasn't my place, I turned to leave until I heard General Shu say, in a brusk manner, "Let him in."

The steward didn't take a moment to even question letting a subordinate such as me in, but obediently and briskly followed his master's commands, allowing me to enter.

"Junior Lieutenant" General Shu said, acknowledging my presence, relieving me to know he didn't think I was somebody else. Possibly somebody higher ranking much like the command structure in front of me: Captains Zilu, Kazek, Hai'zen, and Kodaz. All the same, despite my lower stature, he motioned me over to the table. I looked at the map. It was of the entirety of the Nip Sea, a row of Fire Nation cruiser figurines indicating the blockade, and multiple pins on the paper, _indicating what? _

"You were in command of the vessel that pursed the rogue vessel, the _Patriot _yesterday. Correct?"

He knew this already, but I wondered how he'd learned the name of the ship. Probably questioning the crew after I was reassigned to his ship. All the same, I answered in the manner that was expected of me. "Yes, sir."

"The report of the events indicates that, amidst the middle of your pursuit, you were thrown off course by what can only be identified as a 'freak weather event,' correct?"

I didn't mention my belief int the spirits being to blame, and solely responded with, "Yes, sir."

"And it was because of this that the report indicates the _Patriot _was able to escape. Correct?" This time, he didn't leave me time to answer, instead continuing by saying, "How can you be sure that the _patriot _as well wasn't caught in the same disaster as you and possibly even destroyed?"

"The _Patriot_, while we were slowly gaining ground on it, was out of the direct radius of the whirlpool that entrapped us. By the time we were able to escape, the rogue vessel was gone."

"How suddenly did this event occur?" asked captain Zilu. "Was there any way to anticipate that this storm would occur?"

"None, sir. It was a clear day. Our ship meteorologist hadn't anticipated anything along these lines."

There was a wave of silence that then passed over the room, culminating with Shu turning to his steward, saying, "Shut the door." The silence then continued until the metal door clanged shut, its locking mechanism securing it in place. I was beginning to feel tense all over again, but I kept my posture. Something important was going on here. And I had no intention of acting unaccordingly. Something that was especially hard to do when the room turned to me, and General Shu asked, "When you were bombarded by this supernatural event, did you observe anything abnormal, ethereal by any chance?"

I thought back to the face I observed in the center of that whirlpool just after my crew managed to steer us to safety. I thought back to how I swore never to talk about this until the time was right, for fear of being considered insane, but I had been asked a direct question, and the eyes of the war council were on me. And so I spoke, "When the FNS _Zodiac _had been caught by the whirlpool, we barely managed to escape. The event had taken us by so much surprise that we didn't know what was happening until it was almost too late. Fortunately, we managed to escape, and when we did, I managed to look into the eye of the maelstrom, and-" _I was hesitant still to talk about what I saw. _Talk about the other spirits that were not those relating to the sun or fire, or to Raava, was negatively looked upon in the Fire Nation. But this wasn't heresy that was at stake. This was about the enemy. And enemy we had to destroy. "And I believe I saw a face within the maelstrom."

The silence pervaded across the room as the member of the war council turned to each other, nodding, some murmuring in agreement.

"Junior Lieutenant," began General Shu. "We ask that whatever you hear in this room stays in this room. A failure to maintain anonymity could mean disastrous complications for the morale of the Western Armada. Do you understand what we are saying?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. You are already aware of the rebels that have been harassing our operations in the northern Nip Sea, correct?"

"Yes, sir. They call themselves The Separatists of the Nip Sea."

Captain Kodaz scoffed, "They think giving themselves a fancy name will what? Legitimize their cause? Rally the masses?"

"No," General Shu said. "Victories, no matter how small, showing they can question our rule, is enough to do just that. An official name just comes with the territory?"

I was not quite sure what this had to do with their asking of me about the maelstrom from yesterday, but I knew the general, and that he never did anything without reason, so I let him answer my question uninterrupted before I could even ask it.

"You might be wondering why we haven't wiped them out yet. And why we're talking about some insurgents instead of what we called you in here for. The truth is, we believe these insurgents and recent atmospheric events to be connected in some way, shape, or form."

Jeong Jeong's words came back to me. All he used to tell me about the interconnectedness of our worlds. How the Fire Nation's actions have offended many of the spirits, and that, much like people, some spirits were more quick to action than others, and would punish those who offended them. "You believe the spirits to be aiding our enemy?"

General Shu looked at me, eyes squinting, "Who ever mentioned spirits?" _No. No. It couldn't be that. There was no way that this entire thing was a god damn act to catch me in an act of heresy. _I gulped, motionless, pausing. Then general Shu pointed to the map.

"Two weeks ago, SNS insurgents raided a weapons storehouse on the outskirts of Shibi. Our troops were able to catch them in the act. We pursued, but our men were enveloped in a strange fog that incapacitated them. When they awoke, the assailants had escaped." He moved his finger to a new spot. "10 days ago, one of our patrol skiffs identified a transport smuggling supplies across the sea. Once again, we pursued, but a rogue wave struck the patrol, leaving them marooned on the coast." He pointed to a new spot. 2 days ago, on the outskirts of Beisu, they ambushed one of our caravans and fled into the swamps. When we attempted to pursue, the vines and greenery engulfed our troops and our machinery. They barely escaped with their lives. And now just yesterday, a shock maelstrom out of nowhere, allowing you prey to escape." There was a pause in the room, just waiting for him to continue as the general scanned my face. "You weren't wrong to assume spirits, junior lieutenant. These events are too tied in. Too connected. Each and every time, they impair our operations, and aid in the escape of our enemies. Just today, as I sent our patrols to scan the coast, a heavy fog decided to wash over the entire sea. Visibility has been reduced to nothing. We do not believe these to be isolated events. You were correct in your outburst which I will forgive. We believe the spirit world to be acting contrary to our interests in the Nip sea, and we want to stop that."

_Stop? The spirit world? But our realms. We lived in two different worlds._

"You have a question, junior lieutenant?"

I spoke, now being asked directly. "Sir. I don't exactly know how we could go about doing such a thing. Our worlds: the spiritual and the material. The whole idea is that we can't affect them, and-"

"And they can't affect us. But here they are breaking the rules. So why can't we?"

"General, why am I here?"

"We were going to send for you anyway, but luckily you came on your own volition. Thank you for the inspection by the way. I'll review it later."

"But why-"

"You were trained by Master Jeong Jeong in firebending, correct?"

"Yes, sir. He took me as his apprentice after I graduated from the Sozin naval academy."

"At the top of your class. Yes, we know all about that. Did Jeong Jeong ever teach you, instruct you in the ways of the spirit world. He had a reputation for being more spiritual than some other of our more 'zealous' teachers in that regard."

"Only some surface level teachings. Very minor things. He had a unique fascination with the power of water bending. Particularly its ability to heal wounds." _One of his teachings I was less fond of. While waterbending could have been something that would have greatly aided our soldiers in the line of duty and saved many a Fire Nation life, the water tribes had turned against us when we attempted to civilize the Earth Kingdom. From that point, they had become the enemy, and I saw no need to entertain the culture of an enemy state. Something Jeong Jeong was more open to._

"Yes. That would explain a few things."

"What do you mean?"

"It doesn't matter. You were taught more about these manners, particularly in the spirit realm and the art of waterbending, than any of us sitting at this table. On normal occasion under The Ozai Initiative, what knowledge you'd possess would be considered heresy, but thankfully, we require this knowledge, making you the most qualified for what we have in mind."

"What is it that you have in mind?"

"We need you to find out how disengage the spirits from our affairs so we can finally occupy this sector."

He was serious. And I couldn't help but stutter at the implication I was the most qualified. I wasn't one to back down from an opportunity to prove myself, but that's because I knew my abilities. I was an expert soldier, a brilliant tactician, strategist, logistician, but a spirit guru? I'd only make a fool of myself. "Sirs, I can hardly consider myself the most qualified for this. This body makes up the leading council of the Western Armada. Surely, you can call to service whoever you need. One more qualified-"

"There **are **none more qualified. The Fire Sages are prohibited by law from engaging in military affairs. Something we can only hope Ozai will change, but for now, they're out of the picture."

"The Dragon of the West then. Iroh. I know he abandoned the Siege of Ba Sing Se, but he would jump on the chance to prove himself to his nation again."

"General Iroh has not been spotted for over 2 months. He returned to the Fire Nation with his men, swore fealty to his brother, then vanished. Ozai's scouts followed him, but none seem to have been able to pick up his trail."

"Then my old teacher. Jeong Jeong. You said it yourself that he was the one with these teachings. If you think I'm qualified, then he should be more than enough for this."

"We don't think that will be possible."

I paused. "Why not?"

Yet another excruciating silence filled the room. _Was he dead? Had he died? _Then General Shu finally spoke, "1 year ago, in preparation for the siege of Ba Sing Se, Jeong Jeong was dispatched to guide the 15th Armored Division to the occupied Earth Kingdom city known as Citadel. He did just that. That same night, he vanished. Nobody knew what to expect until, 1 and a half months ago, a Fire Nation convoy carrying munitions was destroyed by a group of assailants. A survivor confirmed the identity of its leader—your former master."

_No. _The word caught in my throat. _No, he-he couldn't. He wouldn't._

"Jeong Jeong is to be marked as a deserter and a traitor to the state. He chose not to serve his nation, but to betray it. What will **you **choose?"

So many emotions broiled inside of me. Confusion, sadness, betrayal, but from them, one emotion, stronger than the rest burned hot. Hotter than the brightest flame. I remembered Jeong Jeong's teachings to me, of the power of fire, and its ability to corrupt he who used it. That power terrified him, and he betrayed his country out of his fear. But I wasn't a coward. I wasn't a traitor.

"Junior Lieutenant Zhao," General Shu asked. "Is there something you would like to ask?"

I had made up my mind. "Yes, sir." I turned to him. "How may I serve the Fire Nation?"


	20. Chapter 17: Unsteady Ground

**Boss**

"2 weeks ago," started Kiu, "A contact in Xiahu smuggled to us a shipment of food, medicine, and weapons."

"The shipment get intercepted?" I asked. This kind of smuggling operation was common behind the lines of war. I'd taken part in some of it myself with the raiders. The Southern Water Tribe had been a more significant force then. We'd sneak past tribal blockades and patrols, infiltrate their towns, blend in back when they'd been larger and easier to have people get lost within. We'd sneak in, acting as though we belonged, become a part of their community, watch the town at work, watch their children at play, their women tending to the sick, their guard rotations, their leadership structure, their healers, benders. We'd take names, memorize their appearances, where they lived, made maps of the towns with their homes marked out from the rest. Then we'd disappear from the town. And one night, days, weeks, hell, maybe months later, we'd come back. And we always remembered the details, the homes, the faces. We'd make that first attack always count. We'd do whatever possible to leave them in a state of chaos, so if we ever needed to return, they'd have nothing left to resist us with. Our methods, they were things I'd rather leave forgotten.

"No," Kiu answered. "The supplies came in, but one of our boats we sent to retrieve the supplies got spotted and barely escaped. Fire Nation didn't seem from where, but our scouts tell us they have men patrolling along the beaches, looking for caves, supply caches, anything."

"How long have they had a presence on the shore? Anything longer than half a day, and chances are they'd have found your cave."

"Only a few hours. It's entirely possible that they did in fact find our supplies, however, I'm thinking this fog might at least be delaying them. Notwithstanding, I want that cache back. I won't lie and say it's worth everything we do, but we need what can get. And our next delivery isn't expected for another fortnight."

"And I imagine with the new Fire Nation presence on the beach, smuggling stuff in will be more of an issue in the future."

"I doubt it. Their town's defenses are stretched thin as is and I doubt they'll be keeping their men that far away from town for any longer than a day."

"Unless these troops come from the Armada. In which case, resources and manpower may not be stretched as thin. They could rotate the men on a daily basis, hell, weekly if they decide to dedicate resources to establish an outpost."

"True, but I imagine it'd be more trouble than it's worth. The Fire Nation governors here would likely object to the Armada setting up outposts along the shore. After all, those men have to get food from somewhere. Likely the towns. And visiting soldiers, it means money, sure, but it also means commotion, drinking, disturbance, you see what I'm saying. He looked at me, a curious look in his eyes, continued by saying, "Besides. They'll get bored after a while of finding nothing, even if they **do **find a stash. They'll leave earlier though if they're bored out of their minds, which is why I'd like for you to do this quietly."

"So we go in, grab the supplies, and get out. How much supplies we talking about?"

"Enough so that, as much as I hate the prospect, we'll need your tank. We usually use carriages and carts, but we need speed for this. It'll be loud, but machinery ain't exactly a strange noise for Fire Nation. All the same, I want you to get in, grab the stuff, get out, and bring it back to us before they notice a thing." He said as he rolled up the map on the table that marked where the cave was, handing the essential information to us.

"And if they've already found the stash already?" I asked, wanting to think that should things not go according to plan, we weren't being thrown into a fire we'd have to fight our own ways out of.

Luckily, from what I was seeing, that wasn't Kiu's style. "The map shows where the stash is. You can get a good line of sight on the cave from the treeline without revealing yourselves. If thing's look dicey, don't worry about it. Just get back here."

"If you don't mind me asking, how do you know we won't just take off with the supplies?" It was a question I wanted to ask as I wanted Kiu's trust. I wasn't fond of working with a group I still couldn't identify as freedom fighters or terrorists, but I wasn't an oath breaker either. We made a deal.

"We'll, I'm doubtful you'd all fit in that tank. But even if such was a possibility, I'll be keeping a few of yours guys here. For insurance."

"You don't trust us."

"About as much as you, us. We just met each other. The same way you're trying to figure me out, I'm trying to figure **you **out. Don't take it personally."

"I never do." I've been through this routine before. I was a mercenary. It was my **job **to work for whoever paid me most. I had a lot to prove.

"Oh. And speaking of. I'll be having one of my guys go along with whoever you pick. Just to make sure you don't screw us."

"Understandable. Can't say I blame you." I hadn't necessarily been **thinking **of taking off with his supplies, but I'd acknowledged the opportunity to do so, recovering the supplies, taking it to the _Patriot_, and claiming the Fire Nation had gotten to the supplies first. Kiu was smarted than that though, and frankly, I'd hoped that Kiu wouldn't catch it, making it all the more significant when we came back with the supplies on our own. _All in due time. _"Anybody among us you want us to go?"

"Chose who you want. You know your men better than I do. I'll chose one of my own. Choose your guys, tell them to load up the tank, and be ready to go by 1300."

"What if I chose to go along?"

"Couldn't stop you, but I'd rather you not."

"Reason being?"

"Chain of command. You have people under you for that sort of thing."

"If you're keeping me up here, then I expect it to be for something important. What, do you want to go over supplies, plans, anything?"

"Really think you've gotten to that level of trust with me yet?"

"No, but I expect to be doing something at least? Idle hands are the enemies' tools"

"**Vatuu's **tools," He corrected. If you're going to use a saying, at least use it right."

"Maybe the spirits mean less to me than they mean to you." He stopped looking at whatever was in front of him, now looking directly at me. You don't believe in spirits?"

"I believe they used to exist. I believe that was a long time ago. Times have changed though, and I see no reason to get caught up in something that has no hand in our world, because they don't."

Kiu smirked, "Then you'll be proven wrong. But it won't be me to show you that. The spirits **do **still reign in this world, but perhaps not in the way you imagine, them flying around, participating in human affairs, but they are always there. You'll see that soon enough, but you're not still here to argue theology with me. Tell your people what I asked them to do. Or go yourself if it really means so much to you. Or just find something to do yourself. It really doesn't matter to me."

"Understood." I didn't know if I was expected to say, "Yes, sir" or something. He wasn't my superior. We were partners in this. At least I thought we were. _So why am I taking orders? Because I'm gaining his trust. The least I can do is be cooperative. _

I left anyway. I was taking his orders, for now, but I wouldn't let myself come off as his subordinate. I couldn't say I knew Kiu's type just by looking at him, but with many, you give them a finger, they'll take the whole arm. So I was keeping stretching my finger far, and ready to pull back whenever I needed to.

The atmosphere here was…tense, to say the least. We didn't know them, and they didn't know us, and nobody was quite fond of rooming with a group they'd been ready to kill and get killed by less than a day ago. That was yesterday's conflict, sure, but it hadn't been the best way to set terms, and first impressions were important.

I exited through the door that led to Kiu's command structure, flanked by two of his men, no, boys, somewhere in the center of the tree-borne village, multiple bridges leading to and fro. I still could never feel comfortable walking from structure to structure, and by no means would so dare as to sleep up here.

While the _Patriot _was only a 30-minute tank ride away, Kiu had insisted that we sleep closer to their camp, amongst the others, citing that our ship, once the fog had cleared, would be a clear indicator of where we'd landed, and that staying by the ship would be suicide. So instead, we found ourselves basing here, and, against my better judgement, doing so hundreds of feet in the air.

I forced myself not to look down as I crossed the bridge leading from the command structure to a small platform to which multiple bridges connected, one of which led to a central platform that could only be identified a as a living space of sorts. It housed multiple seats, tables, a bar, and a number of other accommodations. On a normal occasion, such was the spot I'd expect to find Zek, but his apprehension towards the Separatists of the Nip Sea has, while restrained, been apparent to me. Instead, I only find Jadoh, who, thankfully, was not giving in to old habits, but merely talking to some of his new compatriots. I found it amusing that Jadoh, of everyone in my crew, was being the most helpful in mending bridges between our two factions.

Zadok and Kosah were Fire Nation, born and raised, and right now, their loyalty seemed more directed at Gordez than me. Gordez himself, quiet as ever, no longer being able to work on the _Patriot_, much to his dismay as I'd asked him to be here, had set the two to take care of the ship. For Zadok and Kosah, I had the feeling it was therapeutic. Made them forget for a moment that I'd just signed a deal with a band of terrorists/freedom fighters, not like the two words were too far off from one another at times. For Gordez, on the other hand, I just didn't think much else could make him happy. I'd have to have a talk with him later. It'd been far too long since we've actually been able to have time alone to ourselves. I've known him the longest of anybody else here, but there was always that curtain in between us of rank to rank relationships. As close as I could ever feel to him, there was always the fact hanging in the air that I was in a position above it. It's not like he resented me for it or anything, at least, I hoped not, but it never made it easy to address him as an equal to me, as much as I tried. Maybe it didn't help that I never used my real name, but that was a name I'd chosen to leave behind with the Southern Raiders. **He **stayed there. I wasn't about to let him come back.

I was passing by Jadoh, wondering if I should interrupt his conversation and try to ask where Zek was, but decided against it, until it was Jadoh himself who excused himself from the conversation to jog up to me, seemingly at ease with the structural fidelity of the platforms upon which all our lives depended. "Boss," he said.

"Jadoh," I answered. "Getting along with the locals, I see."

"No, yeah, I mean, yeah, sorry, but I thought it might be good if-"

"No no. I'm not criticizing. I mean, hell, you're being the most helpful among us right now. Thanks for not being too difficult."

"I mean, can you blame them? They beat the shit out of Luke and Ka'lira. No kidding Zek's gonna be pissed and the others are more apprehensive."

"But you're not?"

"I didn't mean it like that, but I'm in the best position to get to know them better and find out more about them, at least on a personable level."

"Well then, detective," I said with a slight mock in my voice, something with enough humor to get him comfortable talking with me about this and not enough ice to come across as though I were legitimately insulting him, which I wasn't. I didn't entirely believe that he was making friends solely for the purpose of benefitting our crew, but I wanted to think it was at least enough of a motivation in his mind that he could bring it up when asked. It was good enough for me, at least. "Learn anything?"

"All of them are from the Earth Kingdom. Doesn't seem like any of them even have the slightest Fire Nation connections. Way they talk about the Fire Nation, there's a real hate to it, so yeah."

"Yeah." No more had to be said. Especially not here.

"A good amount of them come from this village called Kal'wi. Kartho, Kiwitz, Torah, Jet, and a few others. From what I hear, it was burned to the ground by this Fire Nation mercenary band called the Rough Rhinos. Even the few of them I talked to seem really hesitant to talk about it. In total, they have 115 people, but we already knew that."

"So who're the ones you're talking to over there?"

He looked back to follow my eyes, remembering suddenly he'd been in a conversation prior to me. "Oh. That's Torah. Same village I was talking about. He's 15. Year older than me. Good at sword and spear. That's about all I know so far."

"Alright. Thanks, Jadoh. Get back to it. With any luck that won't be information we ever have to use anyway."

"Hope not. I don't exactly like our odds. So your turn. What did y'all talk about in there?"

"He wants 2 of our guys and one of theirs to take _Shanzi _and find a supply cache that they got sent form across Nip but are worried may have been intercepted."

"Thinking of picking me?"

"Was actually thinking of Zek and Ka'lira."

Jadoh smirked. "Obviously."

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" I grinned, crossing my arms in the feint of a defensive gesture."

"Look. All I'm saying is, I call dibs on the next chick to join us."

"You're surrounded by 114 people. There's bound to be a few girls among them. So stop asking me to matchmake you and do it yourself." I gave him a smirk that he returned, and said, "Oh if only it were so easy."

I shook my head, smiling, "Can you tell me where they are at least?"

"I saw them and Luke chatting a while back. I think Luke went to the library and the lovebirds were heading to the ground. Gordez is down there with the lovebirds."

"Great. Thanks. I'll try to get you something to do soon."

"Feel free to take your time. I'm happy right where I am," he finished, promptly turning back to where he was having his previous conversation, vaulting over the straw chair, and landing in its seat, smoothly transitioning back into the fold.

I smiled, shaking my head in disbelief at how quickly he'd managed to grow on me, and continued on. I remembered the complete punk he was not too long ago. He still maintained a sense of confidence, but nothing that encroached on the territory of cockiness. He was a smooth talker without being an ass. He was, in simple terms, a better person, however 'good' a person could be nowadays.

I had no idea how this "tree-city" was laid out. There were makeshift signs from here to there that pointed the ways towards individual buildings, but when platform after platform coincided, and the directions would not stop changing from place to place in order to accommodate for altitude, direction, etc., it happened to get a bit dizzying at times.

I spent a good amount of time moving from platform to platform, from one terrifying unsteady bridge to the next, fully expecting the wooden blanks beneath my feet, held together by hempen rope to give way at any moment, allowing me to fall to my death. I just had to find Luke, and I could finally get down to solid land to find Zek and Ka'lira, and maybe just go for a walk somewhere where one step in the wrong spot wouldn't mean instant death. _Unless they have these forests booby trapped, which may just be the case. _

Notwithstanding, I eventually found what was considered to be the library. It was empty, not worthy of much note. I took it that literature wasn't the most prized commodity around here. And from what I'd seen of the people here, that didn't surprise me. They didn't seem the most book-learned, but I was surprised Kiu wasn't trying to change that. I mean, there was something about the way the man held himself that said he'd rather smart soldiers than idiots under his command. Or then again, maybe even my generous assumptions were wrong, and he actually was the scumbag ready to use child meat shields that the alarms inside of me were signaling towards. I shook the thought out of my head. The less I thought that I was dealing with a terrorist, the better.

Despite that, Luke seemed as though he'd finally found a comfortable position, something that changed the moment he felt another presence enter the room, and I could already see his mental clock telling him how long to wait before leaving to find a new spot so as not to appear rude, but when the corner of his eye caught my figure, he seemed to soften. That was something at least. "Oh it's you," he said, relieved, sinking back into his previously relaxed state. The scratches and bruises from his interrogation that had only been just yesterday were still apparent, but they didn't look to be infected. He'd walk it off, which was of some small consolation. "Thought for a minute I'd have to find somewhere else these people would never go, like whatever passes for a bathhouse around here," he joked.

"I **do **think it's set to rain tomorrow," I quipped back. "What're you reading there?"

He turned the small, loosely bound book to look at the cover that was marked in some hazy writing. The book wasn't anything professionally made. Just paper between leather, but if it was keeping Luke busy, that was something at least. "This cover doesn't tell me shit, but from what I've read so far, it's about Chin the Conqueror. How he rose to power after the Yellow Neck Uprising."

I sat down next to him, finding a stable-looking spot on the ground that Luke was somehow so easily able to find comfort on, no fear in his eyes of breaking through at any moment. "Been a while since I've been in school. Really should've paid more attention to Miss Zeelia. What was that one about again?"

"Well. There was this rebellion led by Xu Ping An. Essentially, he let a rebellion of anarchists through the Earth Kingdom, targeting all considered to be law abiders: soldiers, police, civilians, all of them. Then you had increased banditry, and eventually, Chin, all while the Earth Kingdom did nothing to protect the people getting slaughtered by the thousands for being loyal to that selfsame government."

"Is there something you're trying to say, Luke."

"We both know what I'm trying to say, Boss. Yes, I was drafted into the Fire Nation. I'm not some blind, flag-saluting nationalist, but I fought for the Fire Nation not just because I felt like I owed them, but because I legitimately felt like I was part of something that would make the world a better, safer place. And don't get me wrong, they would have killed us if you hadn't done what you did, but I'm not exactly fond of working with these people."

"You know I don't disagree with you, Luke, but look where you're sitting." He looked down. "Below that is death. This floor disappears, and we're gone. And these "Separatists of the Nip Sea," they're the ones in charge of this floor. It's not desirable, but, for the moment, we don't have much of a choice. And, I know this goes without saying, but don't-"

"I won't."

"You didn't try using it when you were captured?"

"Came close, but I stopped myself."

"I'm sorry."

"Guess we all have secrets we gotta keep for ourselves. Don't think a raider, past or otherwise, would be very appreciated around these parts."

"We're of the same mind. If even one of us slips, that's it."

"So we're hostages, then."

"In everything but name I suppose. I'm trying to work us out of it. Give us some breathing room. It's the most we can do. Taking these guys on by ourselves. Can't see that working under any circumstances."

"Even if we were to tell the Fire Nation, these guys would probably clear out in the time it took to explain what we were even talking about. People like this, they don't have a sense of permanence. The only thing that matters to them is that, whatever they do, it makes some Fire Nation person, somewhere, miserable. Boss, I know we have to play nice, and I will, but I don't want to kill my countrymen, and if they tell me hurt or kill a civie, it'll be the last words they say. I'm sorry, but it's true."

I sighed. I expected nothing less from him. That's why he was here in the first place. "I know. Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

"So you…just wanted to check up on me, or…?"

"No no, I mean yeah. Was actually looking for people willing to go on a job."

"I mean, I'd be willing if-"

"No no. I already picked Zek and Ka'lira for it."

Luke smirked. "Of course you did."

"Why does everyone keep on saying that?"

"Hey, hey. I'm not criticizing you for playing favorites. I'm just saying that you very clearly are."

"Well, for your information, Luke, I happen to think that they work very well as a team."

"If that's what you want to call it, be my guest." Still grinning to himself, he moved to return to his book before turning his head to me again and saying, "By the way, they're down below with Gordez last I saw them. Working on Shanzi, I'm pretty sure."

"Yeah yeah. I know. Just…working up the will to stand up first."

"The sooner you do, the sooner you're back on dry land."

"You want me gone that bad, huh?"

"Hey. How else am I gonna figure out what happens to this Chin dude?"

"Fair enough." I stood up slowly enough, trying to spread out the pressure so I wouldn't even risk breaking through the floor beneath my feet, then turned to leave, saying, "Oh by the way. Kyoshi kills him in the end."

"Damnit, Boss," he said sarcastically, "Now what's the point of even reading this if I know how it ends?"

I chuckled, saying, "Have fun, then," before leaving.

It was good to see him like himself again. Then again, it was hard to say that I've ever really seen him like "himself." All I knew when I met him was that the form he'd taken on, what he'd become, a desensitized warrior, devoid of reason and hope, existing for the sole purpose of taking the lives of others, it wasn't who he really was. I was just glad we'd managed to find him eventually, though I still couldn't forgive myself for not getting to him sooner before he did what he did.

It was hard enough to stop Squad Iron Fire from taking their own revenge. We hadn't known Luke's friend the way he had, but we knew the man he died besides, Lu Ten. If Iroh was the minds of the war, his son was the heart. If Iroh was our father, Lu Ten was our brother, and we all wanted to give the Earth Kingdom what it deserved, but when we saw Iroh the following morning, and he told us to let it all end, and to get away from it all while we still could, we know it was over. Losing him, half of our squad, the battle, the war in most of our eyes… Maybe, one of these days, we'd get the chance to end the war that Lu Ten came so close to finishing himself. Maybe. But for now, that wasn't our job. We saw what war did to people at Ba Sing Se, who war really struck more than anybody else, and so, that was our focus in this war. I was just hoping these Separatists wouldn't change that for us.

I eventually found the lift manned by a particularly buff looking man. I stepped aboard the wobbly platform, desperately holding on to the straw railings, and pulled on the rope, signaling I wanted to be lowered with the ding of a small bell. And soon enough, I felt the platform lowering, daring not to look down, but at the same time, desperately looking in quiet relief as the ground came ever close at a rate that didn't imply death by falling.

Finally, the platform touched the ground, and I was in every rush to finally step off back onto land that wouldn't give way beneath my feet at any moment. I'd only been up there for a few hours, but being back on land, it was a hell of a nice feeling. The sea had never been that same way for me though. The sea, despite being an endless tract of blue absence, I had control. I could swim, but I couldn't fly. Maybe I'd feel better if the ground I stood on wasn't so shaky, both literally and metaphorically. Maybe a Fire Nation built tree house would be more my speed. Who could say?

The ground level was busy. SNS guerillas were organizing supplies, training, having talks, organizing plans, it was a rightful military camp. That didn't exactly make me feel any better, though. We were just as likely to be fighting these people one day as working besides them. But for the moment, they were with us, and that was some small consolation.

I turned to the nearest passing soldier I found. _It's gonna be a while before I even start to remember a fraction of their names. It took me long enough to memorize Kosah and Zadok's name, spirits forbid 114 others. _When I tapped the man's shoulder, I received the turn of his head, no salute, nothing. Not that I was begging for one, I just had to know the ground I stood on, and it was anything but even. Then again, I doubt I'd see my own men saluting Kiu any time soon. "Where's the new tank?" I asked, probably looking like some other dumb recruit who just wanted to see the new toy, even though, by the looks of it, I as 5 years this kid's superior. _How old am I even now? Has it reached February yet? Probably, right? Guess that makes me 20 now? _I smiled at the thought. _Would ya look at that? I survived to my 20s. Should I even consider pushing 30? _

A smile on my face, I headed towards the _Shanzi_, eager to find the people I knew, and a particular friend I wouldn't mind sharing the news with. I found the trusted trio by the _Shanzi, _around a tenth of a mile away from the center of the tree city, Zek and Ka'lira sitting atop, chatting, a toolbox at their side, while Gordez's lower half stuck out from beneath the Shanzi, atop a rolling platform, coming out to ask for a tool from Zek, which he passed down before returning to the conversation at hand with Ka'lira.

"Well hello there, Boss," Zek said joyously with a smile on his face and a sunny disposition that was enough to almost always raise my mood.

"Hello to you two as well. Glad to see you all hard at work, well, at least two of you. No idea what you're up to, Gordez."

"Just clogging Shanzi's muffler. I see no reason why she should have any unfilled spaces in her."

"Ah," Zek said, "If only Hizo were still around. I'm sure he would've **loved **that comment."

"Who's Hizo?" Ka'lira asked.

"Old friend. I'll tell you about him another time."

_There was something both relieving and sad about hearing Zek refer to Hizo as an "old friend." The two had been inseparable up until Hizo's death in Citadel, a rocky start as any to our time as deserters, exiles. It was relieving in that it seemed Zek was moving on, even able to crack jokes about him, but a part of me didn't want to see him so readily abandon what used to be important to him._

_But then again_, I noticed, as Ka'lira's hand brushed the top of Zek's, noticing the reservation behind the mention of a name that Ka'lira had never even heard before, but yet noticed enough from Zek to sense there was more than met the eye, _priorities change_.

Gordez rolled himself out from beneath _Shanzi_'s chassis, his eyes meeting mine, his wider face covered in dirt and grease, a charming look if there ever was one. His smile to see his oldest friend reflected mine own. We'd have to catch up. Everything had been so busy the last few days, from running the blockade (not sure if he'd have forgiven me for that by now), resolving a hostage crisis, reintegrating ourselves into a new unit, everything.

"So, What's up, Boss?" Zek asked. "Just here to check on squad morale?"

"Nah, I don't really care enough about you all for that. I was just here to tell you to finish up on the tank because you and Ka'lira are going out."

The two avoided eye contact, as though there was still something being hidden. Or, I was just horribly misidentifying things. _No No_. Something's definitely going on with them. I just can't tell what.

Gordez, still on the ground, raised his eyebrow, grinning at me, knowing exactly what I was doing.

It was eventually Zek that spoke first, managing to squeak out, "Al-alright. What's the op?"

"Nothing complicated. You'll be checking up on a hidden cave near here. Should have some supplies that some smugglers brought along."

"Simple enough."

"The catch is that Fire Nation troops are on the beach where the cave is. They may have already found it, s stay on your toes, don't get caught, and let's keep casualties to a none here, yeah?"

Ka'lira nodded, saying, "Sounds good. When do we leave?"

"In around 5 to 10 minutes, I suppose. You won't be going alone though, so don't get your hopes up."

I saw the ever so subtle shift in the facial expressions of the two up-and-coming (potential) lovebirds as their excitement diminished ever so slightly, accompanied by a slight blush. "Who's coming with us?" Ka'lira asked, going a small bit pale as she no doubt was recalling the experience of the last day, and nearly being executed by a band of guerilla terrorists/rebels.

"That's up to Kiu, but please, play nice. We're trying to make friends here."

"That depends on them more than it does us."

"Zek," I reprimanded him.

"I understand, Boss. I won't antagonize."

"That's what I like to hear."

"Gordez?" I asked, hoping to hear from his end as well.

"Shanzi's good to go. I was padding the muffler and transmission. Mud like this is no good for the tank and we're leaving the dry season now, and it seems we're gonna be on land for the time being. Don't want Shanzi getting violated in her more sensitive bits."

My head naturally turned to Zek who had a clear reminiscent smile on his face.

"Well," I said, "Guess I'll stick around until the plus one comes around. So how are you all holding up?"

Gordez had moved away from under the tank and now was leaning against Shanzi's side as he said, "Well, not quite fond of being this far from the _Patriot _for this long."

"You trust Kosah and Zadok?"

"More or less. I can at least trust them to not finish repairing the ship on their own and leaving without us."

"You know them better than the rest of us. Think there'll be any issues with our new allies?"

"As long as they stay on the ship and away from our present company, no, I don't think there'll be any issues, but I'm not exactly fond of our current friends, and I highly doubt that their dispositions are any brighter than mine."

"Then we'll keep them where they are for the moment, but that can't last forever."

"What can't?" Zek asked. "Them staying on board, or this 'alliance' of ours."

"Zek," I scolded.

"Play nice. I know. Sorry."

I nodded, and as if on cue, Kiu and his two proteges, Jet and Kai. _So Which one was coming along with us today? _Either way, there was bad blood. _Was this Kiu's plan? Stage an incident to get theme cause to kill us? Or trial by fire to build bridges?_

"Hope we're not late," Kiu said, as though it was possible to be late amongst an army you commanded. "Kai will be going along with you. Jet just wanted to come down and see you off to make amends for what happened earlier."

"That's right," Jet said, stepping forward, extending an outstretched hand to Ka'lira first as he said, "Want to apologize for being so rough with you back there. Sometimes, we just can't take any chances. Fire Nation has sent spies before, many among them attractive women like you, but, I promise, you'll find me a lot gentler of a person than you did back there, Ka'lira, isn't it?"

The rise in Zek's eyebrow matched my sense of disbelief, but with an added suspicion and even hostility at the flirt Jet had given. _For fuck's sake, Zek. Be smart with what you do next. _Ka'lira took Jet's hand, saying, "That's right," and shook it, letting go before Jet's wandering thumb could hope to brush her hand. Then came Zek, who Jet outstretched his arm to out of mere courtesy as he was nearby. Gordez had avoided the confrontation altogether by returning to some make-believe task with the tank. I smiled to myself. _Always the timid one, huh, Gordez? _But now, my attention was focused on Zek, begging him to make the right move, and after the silence that screamed into my ears for what felt like an eternity, he took Jet's hand, shaking it, not letting his apparent emotions get the better of him.

"I'm also, sorry," Kai said. "I'd like to apologize later to the one I beat up back there. What was his-"

"Luke" we almost all answered simultaneously. "He's in the library," I finished.

"That's it. I'll catch him when we come back. For now, we got some supplies to find," he said, approaching the tank to claim a seat for himself as Zek and Ka'lira already clambered up the hull they were more familiar with to likely score the driver and passenger seats as soon as possible.

"Kai!" Kiu warned.

"What?!" Kai whined in annoyance. "The map? You'll need it, you know."

Kai jogged back to where Kiu was, taking the scroll and turning to leave before Kiu pulled him close, whispering something into his hear that, as I watched, appeared to be a scolding, at least judging by the look on their two faces. I took the moment to get to the tank where Zek and Ka'lira had already settled into their preferred seats. "Remember what I said," I spoke to them. "Play nice. Make friends, not enemies. And don't get caught. I don't want any casualties from this."

"We know, Boss," Zek assured. "Neither do we." I nodded, making way for Kai to enter into the gunner's seat, standing back as Gordez backed away from the tank, not approaching the main group, but making distance as the tank shot to life, it's engine starting, it's checks complete, and its treads spun to life as it trudged away, gaining more and more speed as it vanished into the shroud of the forest ahead.

I had to have faith in them. They'd done missions on their own before. _Was it that, I was worried about? Or that there was another factor at play? _No. Even back at Ba Sing Se, we've had joint operations with other units, but always then, during those larger battles, I'd been there too, but that wasn't what was worrying me, was it? I turned to Kiu who whispered one last thing to Jet who left the group, returning to whatever task that Kiu had sent him on, disappearing among the dozens of armed, trained, and most terrifying of all, zealous guerillas. What was bothering me was, at the end of the day, these were not friends. Not allies. Whether they were enemies though, that depended on us as much as them.

"They'll be fine," Kiu said, appearing at my side almost out of the blue while my gaze had been fixed on the empty space where _Shanzi _had been only moments ago. "Kai's got a short fuse, but he won't do anything stupid. Not stupid enough to get them hurt, at least. That's why I wanted him to go along. You train your men well. They're disciplined. That's some credit I have to give to the Fire Nation, they do that well."

I turned to him, my eyes suddenly darting around the forest looking for hidden archers, then to Gordez, who was approaching, unaware of what I'd just heard. _He knew._

He finished his thought by saying, still calm as ever, "The fact that you left says more than anything else could. Your secret's safe. I won't tell my men, but if I see you take a step back, putting the life of your estranged nation above my children, I won't be so lenient." And with that, he stepped away, disappearing amongst his "children."

"What was that about?" Gordez asked when he finally reached me, and I finally felt my pace return to normal. I swallowed. "He knows."

There was a pause in Gordez's voice, and an audible shiver as he asked, "How much?"

"Enough that the deck's in his favor now, but not enough that we're already dead."

He nod, understanding, something I always appreciated about him. He knew me. Knew what was on my mind, and never denied the weight behind the choices I had to make. "Did you already tell Luke to watch himself?"

"Yes, and Gordez, th-"

"I know," he interrupting before I had to say anymore. Some things just didn't have to be said. He knew. He knows. He always does. The fact he could for so long never ceased to amaze me.

"Is there anything else, or…"

"I was actually hoping we could just talk for a bit. Haven't had the chance to do that since Ba Sing Se. That fine by you?"

There was a small pause until I could see the subtle smile on Gordez's larger face that I always thought suited his stature well. "Sounds good to me."

"I could feel that smile inadvertently spread to my face now as I said, "Good. Let's find somewhere private."

**Zek**

It was easy to forget that there was somebody else in the tank when Kai hardly spoke a word during the drive. It was enough to give us the chance to sneak glances at each other, but there was always that foreign presence behind us that kept us distant from actual true comfort. Ka'lira and I were far from experts on the terrain of the area around us, and thus had to rely on Kai's occasional comments as he read the map behind us, but his comments didn't go far beyond, "Right", "Straight", "Turn at that tree", "take that path."

There was no hard time at all for Ka'lira and me to tell that Kai would have rather been anywhere but here. He wanted this over with as quickly as possible. I was just glad it wasn't Jet. I had no doubt he would be better at combination, but it had been that little shit who'd, as Luke told us later, was the one assigned to get information out of Ka'lira. And who, with his nerve, even tried flirting with her afterwards. _With my-. Shit. What is she? And what was that kiss the other day? I still hadn't had the time to talk with her about it. Simply put, we haven't exactly had much time for ourselves at all. _We'd moved from the _Patriot _to that forest base under such short notice, there hadn't been time to just sit down with her and ask what the deal was. For a split second, when Boss brought up this job of ours, I'd had a surge of hope that said it would be the chance, but then there just had to be a catch, and now I felt like I was holding my breath when I should just be using this time to actually just feel comfortable sitting next to her. I sighed to myself and took my mind off of it. Maybe at some point during this job, we'd find the chance to just talk for at least just a few minutes. Or was Kai supposed to be our babysitter? Was **that **why he was here? To make sure we didn't run off with the supplies if we even found them.

I focused on the trail head. It felt nice to be back in _Shanzi _again. Made me all the more glad I'd gone back for her. When I'd done it, it was more to honor Hizo's memory. But the more we found ourselves using it, the more confident I could feel in what had been by rash decision as, whether I had intended so or not, it has been more than helpful for us in recent months. The trail felt near endless, the tress reaching to the skies, their multiple layers of brush clouding the forest floor in an all-encompassing darkness that made night indistinguishable from day. I wondered if I looked up, I'd chance the sight of a Separatist archer here or there, scanning the forest floor, watching for activity, ready to end any life that they suspected of being a threat.

I'd been familiar with groups like this before. When I was a kid in Yu Dao, there'd been a period of resistance, not launched out of Yu Dao, but more external, from some outlying towns that had been less benefitted by the Fire Nation's economy and, as far as they saw it, had only lost, and not gained such as how the colonies had. They called themselves patriots, but in reality, they were no more than bandits. But banditry, when provoked, can become resistance, and resistance, when provoked, can easily become terrorism. I was 5 when the city hall was bombed, killing the mayor, his wife, and 7 other states people. When Morishita came to power, he promised to end the threat, and he did. A protracted guerilla war began, and I was 11 when they finally found their leader and killed him. I remember the wave of propaganda that filled the colonies when that occurred. Books, orations, and retellings of how the Yuyan archers. The Ember Island players had even visited after the event and had a whole play about the operation. Of the tragedy of the terror attack in Act 1 and the summoning of the Yuyan Archers, the squad drama and the demoralization of the Yuyan archers in Act 2 as they struggled to hunt their quarry, and the return of their fervor, and eventual victory in Act 3, killing the monster whose name I always remembered, Ken'lai. Call it indoctrination, propaganda, but the people I travelled with now, it was hard not to associate them with this image of the "bogeyman" I'd formed since the earliest days of my childhood.

"Stop here," Kai's voice behind me said as I took _Shanzi _to a stop, snapping out of my inner train of thoughts. "The beach is a small bit past this point."

"How far?"

"I don't know? Like, 5 minutes?"

"Should've said something sooner," I said, unbuckling myself from my seat as Ka'lira followed suit, not wanting to antagonize him, but at the very least wanting to educate him. This tank can be heard from over half a klick away."

"What the fuck is a 'klick'?"

"A kilometer?"

"What the fuck is a 'kilometer'?"

It was sometimes hard to remember different nations used different measurement system. Being a colonial, I used both. The Fire Nation's system, and the Earth Kingdom's as well. But it was important to remember sometimes, and somewhat reassuring too, that I simply knew more than these Separatists did. "Don't worry about it."

"You think they heard us?" Ka'lira asked as she followed me out of the tank back onto dry ground."

"Hope not. If we're lucky, they'll have tanks too."

"Why the fuck would that make us lucky?" Kai asked.

I looked at him in disbelief. _How stupid is this guy? _"So…they think that tank was one of theirs, and **not** think that tank was somebody who's not supposed to be here."

He could notice the snarkiness in my voice and demonstrated so with the screwed look on his face. _Good. Somebody had to_. But I remembered Boss's orders. "Play nice." I sighed. As hard as it was, our lives currently depending on **not **pissing off the people who had knives to out throats. "So where's this cave supposed to be," I asked.

"I'll show you when we get there."

Ka'lira was the one to speak up now when she proposed, "It might be smarter to scout around here first before we walk straight on the beach. Make sure we're not parked somewhere obvious, and that we at least have a clear way to the beach before we step out and reveal ourselves." I smiled at her, one she returned as I couldn't help but feel a sense of both pride and attraction at the comment she'd made.

"She has a point," I said, now hoping that this scouting would involve splitting into two groups, with clear emphasis on who I'd be with.

Kai sighed, "Fine. You two do your scouting or whatever the fuck you want to call it. Then come back to me, tell me what you found, and let's get this over with."

"What will you be doing?" Ka'lira asked.

Kai gave her a look of partial disgust as he said, "Hey. You two are the ones who want to wander around the woods counting bucketheads. I'll be here doing my thing until you dipshits come back."

I smirked. _Works for me_. Ka'lira had the same look on her face, but we still **did **have to find something. "Mind telling us in which direction the cave is?"

"North."

"Thanks. That narrows it down."

He sighed, "Just take the damn map and go."

And so we left, working our way closer to the beach, slowly and surely, until finally we were out of Kai's earshot, or so we supposed. We both doubted he cared enough to be listening. This was just a chore for him. If he could sit back and get a few minutes to himself, he'd take it, just as he was doing at this moment. "That was a lot easier than expected," Ka'lira said. "I was expecting more of a fight."

"Seems like his potential doesn't go far beyond doing what Kiu says."

"Can't say I've been very impressed by them so far. They got the jump on us easy enough, but I'm surprised they've been giving your Fire Nation guys this hard a time."

"I'd hardly call them **my **guys anymore. I left that behind."

"Zek." There was still something that felt new to having somebody like her say my name. It was one thing to have a commander, a fellow soldier, a friend call your name, but there was a different feeling when somebody you…somebody you felt more about called your name. You knew then that it meant more than an order, a warning, or something else. It was a plea of sorts.

"It's better if I try not to think of them that way anymore. I left my nation, my country, my family. And now I'm working with the people who kill them for sport."

"We don't know that."

"Maybe not, but I have my feelings that I'm not far from wrong."

"I guess when it's something you're fighting so hard over, it's easy to let your passion get in the way of your humanity."

I thought back now to that same damn horrible day. The same damn horrible person I was, and her face, no matter how many times I tried to cast it aside, how it always came back to me. And I looked at Ka'lira now, who was looking at me, realizing I hadn't made a response for a few seconds. "You alright? She asked.

"Yeah just. Thinking about what you said. How about you? You were born in the Earth Kingdom. Do you feel that passion too?"

"What? For who? Some King that sits on a throne in a temple within a city, within a wall, within another wall, pretending the rest of us don't exist? No, not particularly."

"So not your king, but your country?"

"My country?" She scoffed. "What you claim to be my country is a continent that takes up almost a third of the known world. You really think we share some common identity like you do on your island, or in your colonies? Where I was born, our country was the farmland, and the town we traded with from time to time. It was the merchant who bought our produce, the priest who held mass every week, and the other 150 or so people who lived in our small town. Then my "country" sent soldiers to draft our men and boys to draft them. They tried to take my brother, my father said, 'no', they beat him until he was out cold, and still took my little brother. They told me I could stay on my farm to rot away or go with them too. I was only 13. I didn't know what they meant. I just thought it meant I could be with my little brother. And-" She stopped, both in speech, and in her movement. "I'm sorry."

"Why would you be sorry?"

"You don't need to hear about this."

"Hey. Come on," I said, now facing her and kneeling down as she sat on a log to just to a moment to herself. "You don't need to apologize. It's. It's a lot to handle. The things they did to you, it's, you don't need to talk about it right now if you don't want to."

"I was so stupid," she said, nearing tears. "I thought I would be able to stay with my brother, take care of him, but I couldn't even take care of myself."

"You didn't know what was going to happen. You did what you thought was right to take care of your family."

"But that's not the only reason I went!" she called out, really crying now. "A part of me just wanted to leave home. I never even said goodbye to my dad. I left him for the people that had just beat him bloody, all because I wanted to leave home, see the world, and because I fucking thought one of the soldiers was cute!" She had completely broken down. "And I just told myself, tried to convince myself that it was because I wanted to take care of my family, but it wasn't!"

I didn't know what else to do but to reach forward, starting with a hand on her shoulder until it became a hug as her head fell on my shoulders, her tears absorbing into the cloth, but it didn't bother me. Right now, I just wanted to help her feel better. I just wanted her to feel like she could say these things for me. Maybe it was partly selfish, but I just knew that I didn't want to go anywhere right now. I just wanted to be there for her. "You were young. You couldn't have known."

"But I should have! That doesn't excuse me from being an idiot! That doesn't make me any less guilty for leaving my dad behind! I don't even know if he's still alive! I never even said 'goodbye'! What kind of fucking daughter am I, Zek!? I went away with a bunch of people I didn't even know because I believed them when they said I'd see the world. And for 3 years, I did whatever they told me to. I…I even liked it at first, because I felt special. Like I was wanted, desired. How could I have been such a fucking idiot?! And I'm still a damn idiot!"

"No. Come on, Ka'lira. You're not."

"I AM!" she cried. "Because I believe that I care about you when I'm the last person in the world who would no anything about caring. I never even learned what happened to my fucking brother, Zek! And now I'm telling myself that I care about you, when all that means is that I'm going to ruin you too."

There was a mix of emotions in what she said. In part, almost a sick relief that she said she cared about me, an emotion I felt shameful to have amidst all else she had said, about how broken down she was in this moment, so I held on to her tighter, and said, "The past doesn't mean that the future will be the same."

"So I'm just supposed to ignore the past and pretend that it didn't happen?! What kind of fucking logic is that?!"

"I'm not asking you to forget the past, but to learn from it. That's why the past exists. So the future can be different. But never being able to forgive yourself for the things that you did wrong won't help you."

"So how am I supposed to learn if there's no punishment for what I've done?! I'm still here?! If I don't punish myself, then who the hell will?!"

I shook my head, holding hers down to my shoulder where he tears where soaking through to my skin beneath. "How can you say you haven't been punished? You paid for your mistake for 3 damn years. Is that not enough? You barely escaped, but you did."

"Maybe I shouldn't have," she said, no longer yelling, but quiet, defeated.

"Everyone deserves a second chance, Ka'lira. You don't have to pay for the mistakes you made for the rest of your life for it to be considered 'even.'"

She didn't respond to that for a while, hopefully knowing deep down that I was right. And so we sat there for a few hours as I moved to the log next to her and her head shifted to my other shoulder, her tears beginning to dry up as she said, "I don't want to hurt you the same way I hurt everybody else who cared about me."

"You're not going to hurt me, Ka'li."

She chuckled, a sad chuckle, but still something. "Ka'li?"

"Don't like it?"

She chuckled again. "No, I do. It's nice. But Zek, I don't want to tear you down."

"You won't."

"You don't know that."

"No, but I have faith."

"How do you still have faith in a world like this?"

She couldn't see as her face was planted against my shoulders, but upon that question, my head turned to the top of her head, her hair brushing against my face, and I knew why. "Sometimes, there's just something that brings it back."

She looked up at me with a small smile, and I expected her to say something about how nice that was, until she rolled her eyes and said, "Really? You're going to get **that **fucking cheesy."

"I thought it would sound nice," I defended myself with.

"Then her smile grew, and she actually chuckled, and her chuckle turned into a laugh. "Is this what I'm gonna have to expect from you in the future?"

"I'm giving you a chance to walk away now, if you want."

She smiled, turning her face to meet mine, saying, "I'll take my chances. And Zek. Thanks. For hearing me out."

It was just an instinctual reaction that came over me, but I pulled her close and kissed her forehead, then saying, "We all makes mistakes. I'm no exception. You don't have to thank me. I'm always happy to hear you out."

She hugged me again, her chin resting on my shoulder when she said, "Kai's probably wonder what's taking us so long."

"I have my doubts that a guy like him has any idea how long scouting is supposed to take."

She chuckled. "Then again. Neither do I, but it might be for the best we get going. After a few more minutes of course."

And so, for a few more minutes, we just sat there, in each other's arms, not letting anything in the world take us away from that moment. But some things can't last forever, and so, eventually, we found ourselves moving again, along the beachside, scanning the map. We'd seen no Fire Nation troops thus far, and that was always a positive, then, we actually found it, the cave he was talking about, hidden, and completely unmolested, no Fire Nation troops nearby.

"You think it's a trap?" Ka'lira asked while we watched the cave from the forest edge, peering outside so as to not give ourselves away.

"I don't think so. That's not the Fire Nation's style."

"Think they already found what they wanted then?"

"I mean. I'd imagine not. If they found what they wanted, there'd been hundreds of troops here looking for a trail or any evidence of the guerillas. Or they found what they wanted and decided to take the money and run."

"I thought this was food and medicine."

"Figure of speech."

"Ah. Well, one way to find out?"

"I suppose so."

So we left the edge of the forest, trailing along the beach, scanning its vast stretch to look for even the slightest sign of Fire Nation activity. _None_. _No way this is that easy. This has to be the wrong cave._

And we reached the cave. It was half submerged, perfect for a small skiff with supplies to sneak in. We entered. It was dark, but the cave didn't go deep. Just far enough to shroud the rock outcropping in shadow, and atop it, 3 duffle bags, and within them when we scanned the contents, food, and medicine. We'd found it. "I mean," Ka'lira said. "I know we're just scouts, but fuck it. Let's go."

"I'm of the same mind," I said. "Before we risk the Fire Nation missing this cave."

And when we left the cave, we realized what it was that had drawn the Fire Nation away. A plume of smoke due south, conflict, _Kai_?

"You think that's him?" Ka'lira asked, her thoughts matching mine.

"I hope not, but I wouldn't put it past him. Let's go."

It was hard enough for Ka'lira to run with a duffle bag full of supplies around her shoulder, and much harder for me to do the same but with double the load. It was impossible to run at a full sprint, and just as hard to go at a steady job, but eventually, we were there, _Shanzi _right where it should have been, but Kai nowhere near.

"Where is he?" Ka'lira asked.

"Load the bags," I ordered, my nerves making my voice come out harsher than I would have liked. "Get in the tank and be ready to drive off. I'm going to look for him."

"For **him**? Is he worth it?"

"Fuck no, but if he gets out of this alive, as unlikely as that is, and tells Kiu that we left him, we're dead."

"That won't be necessary," a male voice, Kai, said from the woods. And he stumbled out, his arms around a Fire Nation soldier's neck. "Figured you two would go ahead and get the supplies, so I thought I'd give you a nice distraction. Turns out they **did **have tanks along this beach too, so they didn't notice us. Emphasis on 'did'. I told you I made a distraction."

We said nothing, but he noticed our eyes gazing at the soldier in his grasp, struggling for breath with Kai's arm around his neck. "Oh." Kai said. "Him? Just some glory hound who figured something wasn't right and went off to look for the firestarter while the rest put it out. Figured we'd question him a bit, get some useful information, and, well, we know what happens next."

"We're not going to do that," I said, letting my emotions get the better of my better judgment, of what Boss told me. "We don't torture."

"Who the fuck is 'we'. We've been doing this shit way before you strolled on in. They torture **us** for information, so we torture **them**. It's only fair."

"So we're just like them, then?" I asked, realizing I was begging at this point, not knowing the poor kid who was my same age in Kai's grip, only knowing that I've seen his same face of terror in so many other friends I've seen die during this war, realizing now that I didn't want to see yet another face add the collection in my mind that never stopped haunting me, never stopped haunting anybody who's seen war. "I thought we were supposed to be better."

Kai looked at me, then down at the soldier, and back at me again. "You know what?" he said. "You're right." He reached down with his right hand to his belt and I could only mouth the word, "Don't" before he plunged the blade into the kid's jugular vein, pulling it out, and letting the blood flow down the kid's uniform before letting his left arm come loose around the soldier's neck, letting him fall to the ground, still gagging, in a puddle of his own blood. "We **are **better." He said as he passed by me, ignoring the horror in my eyes, and the agape gaze on Ka'lira's face. _What the hell did he just do?_

"Oh you found the supplies!" He yelled in a sick joy after checking the trunk of the tank judging from the sound of it. "Good on you. Looks like we **all** win today!"

Ka'lira walked up next to me, her gaze equally fixed on the poor teenager's corpse ahead of us, just a stupid kid who wanted to solve the mystery of who set fire to his squad's tank. A stupid kid who was dead now, all because he wanted to serve his country. _How the hell was I any different from him? And why was it that I survived all of that, just to find myself working with people who took those exact same lives? _I felt Ka'lira's hand on my right shoulder, and I took hold of it with my left hand, as I looked back to see Kai settling down into the tank's passenger seat. "Oh so that's what it's like down here. It is **way **more comfortable."

I was wrong about what I'd said before. I understood what made these children so effective against the Fire Nation. They were raised by war. Who started that war? It didn't matter anymore. The importance of that had ended nearly 100 years ago. These children were born in fire and blood, and this was it's impact. They weren't like me nor Ka'lira, who grew up with families, away from conflict for the most part. They lost all of that long ago. And this was the result, and that's what made them so efficient. They didn't frighten, they didn't fear, they didn't flinch, they didn't feel. A soldier fights for his love of what's behind him. A killer fights for his hate of what's in front of him. And I was surrounded by killers, in the lion's den, the ground never ceasing to shake beneath my feet.


	21. Chapter 18: The Long March

**Junior Lieutenant Zhao**

I wasn't in charge of the mission. It shouldn't have been surprising given what had transpired in these last few days, but I couldn't help but feel offended. I was a lieutenant. A group of this size, it should have been under my command. **Should **being the key word. I had to be accountable for my actions. I would never regret the choices that I made, I couldn't afford to do so in this line of work, but I could at least be capable of understanding consequences. This is the Fire Nation, and the Fire Nation demands perfection. Doing the right thing the wrong way is just as punishable as doing the wrong thing. Intent is irrelevant. What matters is execution, quick and decisive.

So instead of holding the command of this task force, I was serving under Lieutenant Harzek, a colonial. I had nothing against the colonials so longer as they had proved their loyalty to the Fire Nation, to their Fire Lord, but too many times in the past, the opposite had proved the case. AWOLs, desertions, terror-strikes, you never knew when they'd choose to abandon their sworn duty. 97% of all desertions were from colonials. They'd all been caught. The Fire Nation was efficient that way, no treason went unpunished. _Until my old master_. I pushed the thought out of my head, returning my attention to the map in front of me of the Eastern Nip Sea. We weren't being sent out against the Separatists as I thought we would have been, especially yesterday when we'd recovered the body of a private Zerick, 22, born on Ember Island. It was the job of any officer to be capable of losing men under their command, and the responsibilities that came with it, most notably informing the deceased's family. Rather, we were being sent to the Eastern coast, the swamp, uncharted territory.

"Sounds like a good way to get ourselves killed," had commented ensign Zu'nik. _Idiot_. But I couldn't help but feel the same, thought I wouldn't dare to speak out against a superior, not anymore. But as I looked at the small entourage of men around me: 20 men, 1 transport, quickly speeding towards the coast, away from our blockade, I felt exposed, almost naked. None of us were army. There were only a few firebenders among us, me included. We were wearing Navy armor, nothing overly protective, and were underarmed just as badly. Lieutenant Harzek had said he'd brief us when we were halfway to the coast, so now, I was just studying maps. There was a reason we had a blockade here, because land routes couldn't go through the swamp, and to go around it would bring you over the mountains, which was a lot of work to cross only a few hundred miles of sea. That swamp, lot of Fire Nation personnel had been lost there, lot of men went in, many less came out, if any. So as much as I considered Zu'nik an idiot for speaking out as he'd done, it didn't stop me from being upset when his petitions had gone ignored, because me, as well as everybody else aboard this vessel, seemed to be plagued by the same question.

So I studied the maps that only covered the coast, down to every pebble, but the hundreds of square miles beyond that, completely dark. _What the hell am I doing? This isn't going to help me. What I need right now is somebody who knows what the hell is going on. _

Somewhere, sometimes along the way, we'd reached the halfway mark, and so Harzek rose, and spoke. "Listen up!" he called, instantly earning the attention of the 19 men seeking answers to the range of questions that were all on our minds. "To answer your immediate question, this is **not **a combat mission. This is a diplomatic mission to establish relations with a tribe of natives residing within the so called, 'Foggy Bottom Swamp.' The purpose of this contact, as strange as it may sound to some of you, is to shed some light on the recent 'superstitious' and 'paranormal' events occurring in the Nip Sea as of late, interfering with our operations. There are multiple reports leading us to believe that this swamp and its inhabitants are closely connected to the spirit world. Our mission is to learn the 'how' and 'why' of what is happening, and, if possible, bring an end to it. Any questions."

Nobody lacked for them.

"Sir, with all due respect," started ensign Zaik. "Why the hell are the ones being sent to do this and not some of the Fire Sages or some shit?"

"The Fire Lord had placed them under investigation for suspected treason and they aren't available to lend us assistance."

"But why us?" asked Krezk.

"Because General Shu chose us, and where command sends us, we go."

"And the newbie?"

By that, I knew he was referring to me. General Shu had picked the men chosen for this mission from the same ship, likely figuring it would improve unit cohesion. All had known each other for at least a few months, all except for me.

"Because his firebending master was none other than Jeong Jeong, and Junior Lieutenant Zhao is more informed about the spirit world than any of the rest of us are here." _Which isn't saying much. _Just hearing Jeong Jeong's name brought back emotions I would've rather kept suppressed for the moment. I looked around me, none shared the sentiment. _The rest don't know, do they? It hasn't become public knowledge yet. _Rather, their grazes were focused on me, the odd one out. The one who supposedly knew 'everything' about the spirits. And I looked at him, as though asking him, "Why?", and his look said it all. He wanted to be here no more than any of his men. To him, this was a death sentence for them to babysit me so I could do…something, though I wasn't sure what. And I hoped to whatever Spirit I wasn't being sent to eliminate, that I'd figure it out soon.

The coast was almost upon us, and we began our final preparations. Helmets were donned, gloves were equipped, and supply packs were loaded and closed.

"Fireteams A and B!" called Harzek. "Form a defensive perimeter around our landing zone! A to the North, B to the South. Fireteam C secure our landing zone and protect the package." _That was me, I guess, the only one aside from the lieutenant without a fireteam_.

And in a matter of seconds, we'd reached the shore, our ramps lowered, and fireteams A and B went about their tasks while fireteam D made a dramatized effort of forming a turtle shell formation around me. _What a bunch of children_. Looking at their faces though, the term "children" wasn't far from the truth. The oldest among them seemed to be no older than his mid-twenties, and Navy too. They haven't seen what real war is like. Odds are they'd spent their entire careers part of the Armada, any combat they found themselves in, supported on all flanks by 10 other battlecruisers.

I was escorted onto the beach, and out ahead of us, not 20 yards away, forest began, and soon beyond it, inhospitable swamp land. _How the hell did we expect to find what we were looking for in there?_

"Reports say that there is a mother tree, a banyan-grove in the center of the swamp land, towering larger than any of the others. It's rumored to serve as a site of worship for the swamp's inhabitants."

"How do we plan on finding it, sir? We splitting up?" asked an ensign whose named I hadn't yet remembered, clearly terrified at the prospect of splitting up into smaller groups.

"Negative, ensign. We'll be travelling together. Strength in numbers. You'll notice that each of you are carrying flare guns with 5 cartridges each. We'll be trying to stick together, but if we're to get split up at any point, and you lose your flare guns or are out of ammunition, the mother tree is our rendezvous. "

"What about our transport?" Zaik asked. "Aren't we concerned about some Seppies nabbing it from us while we're not looking?"

"The transport will return to the blockade. It will come back to us when we've completed our mission, signaled with a flair. Any more questions?"

"Sir," prompted Krezk. "If you don't mind me asking again, what's our actual mission. Meaning, how will we know when we've gotten what we came for?"

And so, Krezk voiced the concerns that not only he had, but so did every member of this squad, myself included. Nobody was really expecting to find anything. All this talk of spirits, the paranormal, we didn't deny their existence, but we denied our ability to even come close to understanding it, something we were sent to do today, to understanding this other world. He wasn't asking when we'd finish our mission. He was asking how far we'd take this before we were all dead.

Harzek sighed. He knew that as well, and he was just as reluctant to be going into these swamps as anyone else was, and so he answered, "If there's nothing for us to see at the mother tree, there's nothing for us to see. It would just have been one failed attempt to gain an edge. Nothing more, nothing less."

He was already preparing for failure. They all were. In a way, so was I. But I had more riding on this than any of them. If this failed, so did my career, so did everything I'd been working towards my entire life. This couldn't fail. **I **couldn't fail.

So when Harzek turned his eyes towards me, towards the reason they were all here, the reason their lives were put in danger, I returned the gaze with nothing less than total confidence. This was going to work. And if it didn't, I will have wished that I died in these swamps than returned empty handed.

And so we commenced our march into the forest, fireteam A at the head, fireteams B and C covering our flanks. Over the rustling of the shrubbery as we entered the darkness, the last thing we could hear of the coast was our transport's engines spurring to life once more and returning to the safety of the Western Armada.

We knew the geography. We were expecting the march to last around a day until we reached the mountains surrounding the swamp. It would take another day to hike up them, and a day to descend. Then we placed the time it would take for us to navigate the swamps at approximately three to four days. These were the estimations we'd come up with beforehand, and so we'd packed accordingly. Our bags were laden each with 3 weeks' worth of MREs in case of a worst-case scenario and to accommodate for the journey back. Alongside that, we were each packing first-aid kits, enough water to last us, along with survival supplies spread between us such as rope, hunting equipment, etc.

And so the march began. This may not have been the army, trained in ground-operations, but even in the navy, we were soldiers. As young as the men surrounding me were, I had to give them credit where credit was due. They survived their training, and not just any upstart half-baked trainee could make it to the Western Armada, and they demonstrated that here. The lack of discipline they'd shown ashore was gone now as they maintained their marching order, keeping on alert for Separatists activity, never leaving their guard down. Then again, the day had just begun. What remained to be seen was how long the discipline would last. How long until boredom took over, and men started cracking jokes, squandering their rations, and forgetting that we were in Separatist occupied territory, but so far, they'd surprised me. The one's who, aboard the transport, had protested the loudest, now followed Harzek's orders as thought they were coded into them from birth. There was something commendable about it. Then again, they'd known him far longer than the half a day I had.

The march went by soundly enough. We were making good time, landing at 1400, nearly halfway to the mountains by 1700. We stopped for a 5-minute break to catch our breaths and drink some water, only consuming at most half of our day's supply, then continued.

"No sign of any seppies so far," said Zaik, Fireteam A, breaking the silence that had been maintained since landing save the occasional order from Harzek.

"Please don't fucking jinx us, Zaik," said Krezk, from Fireteam C.

Additionally from Fireteam C, the ensign whose name I'd finally put to Zayli, a more femenine name, something I'm sure his squad mates had already made fun of more than enough times, said, "Maybe they assume nobody is stupid enough to go into the swamps?"

"Tell that to the hicks that call that fucking sludge hole 'home'," grumbled Krezk.

"They got hicks in there?"

"Tribals," corrected Harzek. "But hicks aren't too far off, but that's enough on the matter. Cut the chatter if you would."

"Yes sir."

"Yes sir."

"Yes sir."

Soldiers were like clay, molded by whoever was in charge of them. An officer who tolerated no outbursts such as this would keep them disciplined but would only prepare them for his own command. They would respond perfectly to his commands, but under the charge of any other, they'd be lost, and, if they'd lost their CO in combat, there would be no room for flexibility. They'd be lost, confused, scared, dead before they even remembered the chain of command as they'd only ever known one singular commander.

If you tolerated too many outbursts, however, you'd groom your men for independence, but too much so. They'd no exactly how to act without their CO, even when he was around. His command would fall on deaf ears, and the longer it went on, the harder it would be to restore discipline, to make these men soldiers again.

In what I'd seen of him so far, it seemed to me that Harzek had found a middle ground of sorts, by no means an easy feat. The fact that he wasn't the biggest fan of me made him no lesser of a leader as far as I was concerned

The sun was setting now, to our backs as we headed further east, beginning to feel the incline of the mountain ahead of us, following its trails to make our ways up, at least so much so that we were above the forest tree line. Ascending this would be the task for tomorrow. For now, what mattered was being able to find a good enough area to set camp, a place we eventually found a few yards up, a nice clearing with enough space for us to set up camp, pitch our tents, start a fire, and take a good 30-minutes to eat our MREs for the day before settling down for the night.

Chatter was quiet. There was no better time to do it, but in a way, we weren't long enough into this op that it became standard. There was still a sense of disbelief in questioning why they were here to begin with. I couldn't hope but feel a tang of guilt. I knew how it felt to be assigned on a pointless task. I'd served under the same captain for almost 7 years, being held back at every turn, but I'd rather be held back than thrown at a task that seemed certain to get me killed. I wondered if the silence would break. Nobody did. It was odd, normally, I would have welcomed the silence, but now, I knew that the silence was filled by the stares they gave me. It wasn't me who sent them here, it wasn't me who was responsible, but I was the "package" so to speak. I was their burden. And they hated me for it. If anybody higher up the chain of command were here, those gazes would be directed at him, but right now, I was as close t the problem that they'd get. They hated me for it, and there was nothing I could do to change that. I looked up the mountain, knowing that swampland lay beyond. I still had no idea what I was going to do once I was there. I had no idea what even to ask. "How do I stop the water spirits attacking my men?" _Right. Like that would work_.

I was still looking up the mountain as I sat in front of my tent, taking off my boots and armor before crawling into my sleeping bag. Fireteam A had watch for the night. Fireteam B tomorrow, and so on. I would have welcomed having watch right now. Any distraction, any more time to just think would have been welcome.

I turned to enter my tent when I felt a presence behind me. "Junior Lieutenant," Harzek said.

"Lieutenant" I answered, not trying to antagonize him.

"I don't have time to waste on small talk. These are my men. They are my responsibility, and I want you to answer as plainly as possible. Do you have any damn idea what you're doing here?"

I considered how to answer that. I wondered if I should lie, and say that I knew what I was doing, but at the end of the day, it was still a lie, and it would change nothing, so I only answered as plainly as I could. "Not yet."

"And what the hell is 'not yet' supposed to mean."

"That no. I don't know what I'm doing."

"Then why the hell are you here, and, better yet, why the hell am I here? Why the hell are my men here?"

"Because my master-"

"I know who your damn master was. That doesn't explain why they send you, some upstart officer who I doubt listened to anything a man as renowned as your master said that didn't have to relate to advancing your own ends."

He wasn't wrong. Jeong Jeong always spoke of the dangers of power, of the dangers of fire, how it could control its user easier than we could control it. But at the end of the day, did anything he say matter anymore? He was a traitor, who knew where his lies began, and where they ended? _At the end of the day, he served his own goals, which advanced the question, if I couldn't trust his own words, then why was I here? _"I know that my master focused on many aspects of the world outside of the one where we live."

"The spirit world?"

"Yes, sir."

"So you're saying that we're here just to chase spirits?"

"That's what you said during the briefing."

"Because maybe that's all I was told, but I have a hard time believing that me and 18 of my men are being sent out solely for the purpose of getting spirits to stop messing with us. Maybe I just have a hard time believing that our command is so stupid so as to justify throwing men at a world that, according to the laws of the universe, we cannot attack back against! What else is there to it, Zhao?"

"I'm sorry to tell you, but there's nothing more. We've been sent to find and remove the water spirit as a threat. There's not much more I can say."

"So you're saying you know absolutely nothing."

"I'm afraid that I am."

"But you agreed to do this?"

"I agreed to serve my nation to the best of my abilities."

"Don't give me that patriotic bullshit. You think if you do this, everything will be forgiven, right? That you might even be given a promotion if you did this, past your initial rank of lieutenant?" _He wasn't wrong. The idea had crossed my mind more than once_. "You're not a patriot, Zhao. You're a glory hound. This nation and its soldiers are just a means to an end for you. If you felt you could gain more glory in the Earth Kingdom, you'd go there in the blink of an eye."

"That's not-"

"It **is**. You've endangered the lives of Fire Nation soldiers more than once to advance your own aims. Just a few seconds later, and you would have killed everybody aboard the _Retribution_, aboard my ship, but that didn't matter to you, did it? You knew protocol, that the destroyer was **our **ship to chase, but you chose to pursue it, not caring that you were breaching protocol, and endangering the lives of the men in the blockade you chose to run."

I didn't have anything to say right now. I didn't know what I could say. I regretted my actions, but he wasn't wrong. I regretted my actions for what they cost me, not for what they could have cost others. I always told myself I loved my nation, but how much of that was even true? But at least one thing made sense. I'd compromised the safety of these men once before already. What assurance did they have that I wouldn't do it again?

Harzek continued, "I follow my orders, so I'll go along with this, but your safety is meaningless to me. You look after yourself. I'm here to keep my men alive for as long as possible. Not to look after you. If you fall behind, if you take a different route, if you don't leave when we pack up, that's your own damned fault, but I will not let you endanger my men a second time. Now go to sleep. We wake at 0500 to march. Join us, or don't. It doesn't matter to us. We're here to talk to tribals that worship a tree and get some answers. Whether you're here for it or not, it doesn't matter to us." And with that, he left, and as I allowed myself to settle in for the night, there was that knot in my stomach that told me he was completely right. That I had no purpose here. I was the closest thing they could find to somebody well-versed in the spirit world. I was a scapegoat if anything. I was nothing more than that. There was nothing I could do that the rest of these men couldn't. So I closed my eyes as I tried to lie to myself as the night came that I would prove them otherwise, that I would serve my purpose, but at the end of the day, I don't think even **I **was capable of convincing myself of that.

Eventually, the next day came, I having to wake myself up in the midst of the rest of my squad already packing up, getting ready to leave, likely wishing amongst themselves that I wouldn't wake up, one less burden to carry. Inevitably, amidst the commotion of a disassembling camp, I did awaken. And so, another day began after I managed to catch up with the rest of my squad. Luckily for me, when it seemed I only had myself to look after, it wasn't hard to keep pace with 19 tightly knit soldiers. I knew they held me in regard, which was perhaps better than in low regard. For all they were concerned, I didn't exist. They wouldn't let me slow them down or endanger their lives as they seemed so adamant to view my intentions. I was invisible. And right now, that seemed just what I needed.

I knew how to ration my food and water. Hadn't ate breakfast and was still on yesterday's supply of water. I'd learned the hard way not to overindulge, how to make the msot of what little I had. So as we scaled these mountains, each step a chore of its own, the dwindling oxygen, rising temperatures of Spring, and precarious nature of each step slowly wearing us down. We'd stopped twice before noon. We were nowhere near the top of the mountain, myself estimating we were a third of the way there. It seemed the squad's efforts to ignore my presence were working, as they now were beginning to chat amongst themselves, cracking jokes, arguing from time to time, not that I could hear. I took my breaks, my meals, my time, away from the rest. I'd taken the rear guard, allowing myself to trail a few yards behind the others, giving both me and them the space we needed away from one another.

From time to time, I'd turn around to set my eyes on the landscape we were leaving behind us as we slithered across the side of the mountain like a zigging and zagging snake. From where we now were at 1330, about, at least, I could see the Nip, the fleet hidden from view, but its plumes of dark gray smoke never ceasing to indicate our iron grip over this waterway. _I should be fighting Separatists right now, bot marching towards a PR stunt of an operation, a mission with about as much logistical value as finding the Avatar. _That venture had been abandoned long ago when Sozin had died, still unable to find the "one threat" to the Fire Nation's security. From time to time, the occasional zealot would rise up to the challenge, and would organize some grand expedition to find and retrieve the Avatar. It was a foolish venture, children playing at war games, but it was all folly. The Air Nomads had been eliminated for 20 years before Sozin finally succumbed to his ripe age of 102, never finding his lost quarry. By that time, he'd abandoned the throne, allowing Azulon, who didn't share the same zeal, to assume more relevant duties. The Avatar was a forgotten memory now, lost for nearly 100 years. Odds were too, he was already long dead, likely having died during the genocide itself, born among the water tribe, never found, probably dead, reincarnated, likely dead again. For all we knew, we were already in possession of the Avatar and we didn't even know it. Not that it mattered. If the Avatar was really a threat, then they hadn't deigned to make themselves so in the last hundred years that the Fire Nation has spent conquering the world. Why would they show up now?

It was all just a tale we told ourselves to keep us on guard, to remind us that we dare never become complacent, never allow ourselves to be taken unawares. It was all just for show, much like what I was in the middle of doing now. Nobody denied the existence of the spirits, much less myself who had seen their damaging effects up close and personal. And I agreed that something had to be done, but if I was the one to do it was a different conversation entirely. I hadn't ignored the words of Jeong Jeong as Harzek seems to assume I had. I listened to him, I respected him, I trusted him. _And he betrayed me_. I shook the thought aside. _He betrayed his Nation_. I shook the words in my head away once more, needing to focus as my gaze fixated on the horizon ahead of me, just putting one foot in front of another, hugging the cliff wall, not daring to take one wrong step. _I acknowledged the words that he had taught me, but his recent actions did throw his teachings into a new light, but there was wisdom to be learned from the enemy. To defeat your enemy, you must know them. Jeong Jeong had said that,_ "Man views themselves as the masters of the universe, no power above them, but we are not alone in this world. We share this world with plants, animals, the spirits, and who knows what else. They may inhabit a world separate to our own, but we lest not forget that they have the ability to interfere with us, while we lack this selfsame ability. We are not alone in this world, and we are by no means its masters."

_In his words, Jeong Jeong surrendered himself to the world. I realized that now. I thought he had spoken of humility, of understanding, but I saw the message beneath his words. It wasn't man he referred to. It was us, the Nation he used to call his own. The country he turned his back on._ My fists clenched, feeling the heat, the rage, the fire rising within me as I took one step in front of another, not even looking to see where my foot landed. _He had given up, switching sides because he believed we had already lost. He was a coward! _I kept on marching. _But he was wrong. It was man who banished the spirits to their world. __**They **__were the ones hungry for power, the ones seeking to dig their class into our world, fueling our conflicts, our wars_. My vision was blurring, but I kept on marching. _The spirits had overstepped their bounds, had broken the fragile peace, and it was up to us to restore the order. We'd done so before. We would do it again!_

I crashed into the soldier in front of me, sending him bouncing forward as I barely stopped myself from falling back. "For fuck's sake," he yelled. "Watch it!" I regained my footing, looking ahead, waiting for my vision to unblur, but the darkness remained. _It was already night_. _How long had we been marching?_

"This is a good spot," I heard Harzek's voice call from the front of the line. Unpack your things and settle down. Get some grub in your bellies along with some water and get some sleep. It's been a long day."

I heard the relieved sighs and groans that thundered around me, myself having missed on the hardships that the others around me had so clearly been beset by. I was still in shock at how long I'd been gone. It felt like I'd only been thinking to myself for a few minutes, but here I was.

"That means you too, Zhao!" Harzek called, for some reason even deigning to acknowledge me. Through the shock, I allowed myself to finally unpack, pitching my tent away from the rest as seemed the silent custom, starting my own small fire with some scattered tinder, thankfully dry. I hadn't even realized we'd reached the near peak of the mountain, and I took the time to gaze at the scene around me. The sun wasn't just setting too. It **had **been set. For quite a while, the stars sitting in the sky, moving ever so slowly to the point that the heavens' movements evaded our recognition, there one moment when we shut our eyes, gone when we opened them once more.

From where I was, I could only hear the mumbling of conversation emerging from the soldiers engaging in their pre-night conversation, a tradition I'm sure they'd mutually shared in the years they'd known one another. And for once, I found myself missing my old crew. Missing Izzo's naivete, Zeera's confidence and hunger for advancement that we both shared, and to some small degree, even the simplicity of Zain's command. I knew where I stood with him. There was no confusion at least. I knew what each day had in store. It was a career-killer of an assignment, but I had known my abilities, and I knew that he could throw nothing at me that I couldn't handle. But now, as my eyes trailed down the horizon, to the shadowed sludge of swampland ahead, I realized that I had no idea what tomorrow would have in store for us. Never had I been so confused about my future, no longer thinking years down the road, to my own command, my future accomplishments, but simply to the day ahead, to the unknown, of just how lost I felt in these moments. But I wasn't lost, was I? Not so long as I had a purpose. Tomorrow, it was descending these mountains, beyond that, questioning the locals, after that, doing what had to be done to stop the spirits killing my men. After that, there were only two primary objectives that plagued me most. Prior to a week ago, it had only been one, to work my way through the Fire Nation command structure, one rung of the ladder at a time, but today, I'd settled on just one more. I was going to find Jeong Jeong, and when I did, I was going to kill him. I was going to kill the man that had lied to, deceived, and betrayed me. I was going to kill my old master.

And so, on that second night, after allowing myself to eat and drink, I slept to dreams of justice, to dreams of revenge, softened by the light patter of a gathering rain outside.

I don't know what it was that woke me up this time, but as soon as consciousness had been regained, it occurred to me that it didn't matter. Because amongst the sounds of a raging storm outside, muffling the voices that were clearly yelling, barking orders, questioning the fates, there was no difficulty in understanding that something was horribly wrong, a horrible howling now picking up, drowning out all other noises. I threw off my sheets, crawling out of the sleeping bag, reaching instinctively to the armor I had at my bedside, my years of doing this time and time again allowing me to get my chest plate on first, followed by both of my legs and one of my arms by the time the stake of my tent tore loose, in a domino effect, unearthing all of the rest. I barely managed to escape polyester tomb, bag in hang, by the time that the wind had taken hold of it, flinging it into the wind along with all else I had possessed within, from the rest of my armor to my sleeping bag. My first instinct was that this was a dream, that I was about to wake up. This couldn't have been real. We'd have known if a storm like this was approaching. _Just like we did last time? _So when I looked around, and saw the rest of my squad, struggling to grab hold of their belongings, barely invisible behind the thick curtain of downpour, I realized, this wasn't a dream.

And this was one of those moments where, friend or foe, I didn't want to be alone. I rushed to where I believed the others to be, and found them there, at their camp site, desperately struggling to grab hold of what they could, their voices as I shoved past them those of complete and utter terror. "What the hell is happening?!", "Where the fuck is Zaik!?," "What do we do?!" But amidst that, one voice I knew I could recognize, and had to listen to, "Leave the tents!" I could barely hear Harzek's voice call out. "Grab your bags! Grab your armor! We've got to get to lower ground!" His eyes caught mine as I'd entered his immediate vicinity, and for once, his look wasn't one of hatred, likely because he was too busy trying to survive. Somehow, he'd managed to fully don his armor, and already has his pack over his shoulders. "Zhao!" he called, not wasting time on by demeaning rank as he'd usually done. He must have noticed that I was as ready as I was going to be, and so he ordered, "Help the others!" I turned my attention then to the nearest man, a soldier whose face I could never hope to distinguish in the chaos in addition to the mud splattering his face. _Or was it blood? _I hooked my hand around the underside of his arm, grabbing his pack with my left hand, pulling him up while handing him what I could only assume was his bag, though at this point, it didn't seem to matter. We needed to consolidate as much equipment as possible.

We were between violent gusts at the moment, the only danger the rain, now added to by the occasional strike of lightening. _It's getting closer_. But the calm between gusts wouldn't last forever, and the howl alerted us to its threat only a fraction of a second before it hit, Harzek barely managing to utter the singular word, "Brace!" The man in my arms flew. How far back? I couldn't say, but he and I were no longer tethered. I could feel myself being lifted, but threw myself to the ground on all fours, desperately trying to secure a grip on whatever I could, unsuccessfully so feeling myself being pulled, or pushed, or whatever it was, towards the cliff's edge, now clambering for life until I felt a hand grab around my wrist, holding me steady for the next few seconds until the gust passed, and my eyes met Harzek who now let go, yelling above the maelstrom's rage, "Grab who you can and get down the mountain, now!" His orders could never be executed, a journey of that length set to have taken us a full day, during clear weather, fully rested, with 16 hours of daylight, but in this moment, that didn't matter, all that did was the singular purpose, To get to lower ground, and to survive.

I left Harzek were he was, actually finding myself hoping that he'd be alright, and rushed to the nearest figure I could see, somebody hunched over on the ground, completely unarmored, not even in their Fire Nation uniform, but their actual underclothes, but notwithstanding, I grabbed them by the waist, pulling them up, pulling them alongside me until they regained their own footing, soon stumbling beside me as we headed for the path that would theoretically lead us down the mountain. We passed more soldiers, some of which were now beginning to move on as well, helping those nearest to them to move on as well. I had no idea how many of us had already been lost thus far, or to what extent they were. There was no way to know, and no time to think on it, but only on putting one foot ahead of the other.

We were barely on the trail when it started, the first signs of it, a slosh of mud first, then a rock, then a horrifying crash as though that of lightening striking just above us, and upon me turning up, I saw it, a rushing cloud of mud, dirt, rock, a landslide, one that we were directly in the way of. And in that moment, I found myself doing nothing I never thought I would have. I placed both of my hands on the back of the soldier in front of me, putting as much pressure into my elbows as I shoved him forward, and braced myself for whatever fate awaited me.

And then it was darkness, enveloping me, surrounding me, my body no longer my own, but being carried by the fate of the world, pulling me down into the abyss, to my own grave, to a dark space in the universe where nobody would ever find me, a hole I could be stuffed in with the key tossed into an equally dark and buried hole. A hole I now found myself digging my way out of, one hand in front of another, as though I were swimming in the earth itself, desperately trying to reach a surface I couldn't see, not daring to open my eyes nor nose, but just rising, rising, rising however I could, until first, my arms rose, like the plays I'd used to watch on Ember Island of the living dead, then I saw it in front of me, the open world, and dug myself out, one handful of dirt at a time, digging myself out of the grave the world had deigned to bury me in, not done just yet. Somewhere along the way, I'd lost a leg plate on my right leg, and my right arm bracer, my pack somehow still on my back, and so I emerged, but not into light as I might have supposed, but into a world that felt jut as submerged as the one I'd emerged from, and so I looked all around me, at the world of shadows around me, the mountain I'd just descended nowhere in sight, only to be surrounded by a world of greens and blacks. So here I was, then, I'd made it, somehow, alive. But that was the easy part, I was sad to admit, because I was in the place that had claimed so many others before me. I was in the swamp, and my concerns were only just beginning.


	22. Chapter 18: The Long March (Reupload)

**Junior Lieutenant Zhao**

I wasn't in charge of the mission. It shouldn't have been surprising given what had transpired in these last few days, but I couldn't help but feel offended. I was a lieutenant. A group of this size, it should have been under my command. **Should **being the key word. I had to be accountable for my actions. I would never regret the choices that I made, I couldn't afford to do so in this line of work, but I could at least be capable of understanding consequences. This is the Fire Nation, and the Fire Nation demands perfection. Doing the right thing the wrong way is just as punishable as doing the wrong thing. Intent is irrelevant. What matters is execution, quick and decisive.

So instead of holding the command of this task force, I was serving under Lieutenant Harzek, a colonial. I had nothing against the colonials so longer as they had proved their loyalty to the Fire Nation, to their Fire Lord, but too many times in the past, the opposite had proved the case. AWOLs, desertions, terror-strikes, you never knew when they'd choose to abandon their sworn duty. 97% of all desertions were from colonials. They'd all been caught. The Fire Nation was efficient that way, no treason went unpunished. _Until my old master_. I pushed the thought out of my head, returning my attention to the map in front of me of the Eastern Nip Sea. We weren't being sent out against the Separatists as I thought we would have been, especially yesterday when we'd recovered the body of a private Zerick, 22, born on Ember Island. It was the job of any officer to be capable of losing men under their command, and the responsibilities that came with it, most notably informing the deceased's family. Rather, we were being sent to the Eastern coast, the swamp, uncharted territory.

"Sounds like a good way to get ourselves killed," had commented ensign Zu'nik. _Idiot_. But I couldn't help but feel the same, thought I wouldn't dare to speak out against a superior, not anymore. But as I looked at the small entourage of men around me: 20 men, 1 transport, quickly speeding towards the coast, away from our blockade, I felt exposed, almost naked. None of us were army. There were only a few firebenders among us, me included. We were wearing Navy armor, nothing overly protective, and were underarmed just as badly. Lieutenant Harzek had said he'd brief us when we were halfway to the coast, so now, I was just studying maps. There was a reason we had a blockade here, because land routes couldn't go through the swamp, and to go around it would bring you over the mountains, which was a lot of work to cross only a few hundred miles of sea. That swamp, lot of Fire Nation personnel had been lost there, lot of men went in, many less came out, if any. So as much as I considered Zu'nik an idiot for speaking out as he'd done, it didn't stop me from being upset when his petitions had gone ignored, because me, as well as everybody else aboard this vessel, seemed to be plagued by the same question.

So I studied the maps that only covered the coast, down to every pebble, but the hundreds of square miles beyond that, completely dark. _What the hell am I doing? This isn't going to help me. What I need right now is somebody who knows what the hell is going on. _

Somewhere, sometimes along the way, we'd reached the halfway mark, and so Harzek rose, and spoke. "Listen up!" he called, instantly earning the attention of the 19 men seeking answers to the range of questions that were all on our minds. "To answer your immediate question, this is **not **a combat mission. This is a diplomatic mission to establish relations with a tribe of natives residing within the so called, 'Foggy Bottom Swamp.' The purpose of this contact, as strange as it may sound to some of you, is to shed some light on the recent 'superstitious' and 'paranormal' events occurring in the Nip Sea as of late, interfering with our operations. There are multiple reports leading us to believe that this swamp and its inhabitants are closely connected to the spirit world. Our mission is to learn the 'how' and 'why' of what is happening, and, if possible, bring an end to it. Any questions."

Nobody lacked for them.

"Sir, with all due respect," started ensign Zaik. "Why the hell are the ones being sent to do this and not some of the Fire Sages or some shit?"

"The Fire Lord had placed them under investigation for suspected treason and they aren't available to lend us assistance."

"But why us?" asked Krezk.

"Because General Shu chose us, and where command sends us, we go."

"And the newbie?"

By that, I knew he was referring to me. General Shu had picked the men chosen for this mission from the same ship, likely figuring it would improve unit cohesion. All had known each other for at least a few months, all except for me.

"Because his firebending master was none other than Jeong Jeong, and Junior Lieutenant Zhao is more informed about the spirit world than any of the rest of us are here." _Which isn't saying much. _Just hearing Jeong Jeong's name brought back emotions I would've rather kept suppressed for the moment. I looked around me, none shared the sentiment. _The rest don't know, do they? It hasn't become public knowledge yet. _Rather, their grazes were focused on me, the odd one out. The one who supposedly knew 'everything' about the spirits. And I looked at him, as though asking him, "Why?", and his look said it all. He wanted to be here no more than any of his men. To him, this was a death sentence for them to babysit me so I could do…something, though I wasn't sure what. And I hoped to whatever Spirit I wasn't being sent to eliminate, that I'd figure it out soon.

The coast was almost upon us, and we began our final preparations. Helmets were donned, gloves were equipped, and supply packs were loaded and closed.

"Fireteams A and B!" called Harzek. "Form a defensive perimeter around our landing zone! A to the North, B to the South. Fireteam C secure our landing zone and protect the package." _That was me, I guess, the only one aside from the lieutenant without a fireteam_.

And in a matter of seconds, we'd reached the shore, our ramps lowered, and fireteams A and B went about their tasks while fireteam D made a dramatized effort of forming a turtle shell formation around me. _What a bunch of children_. Looking at their faces though, the term "children" wasn't far from the truth. The oldest among them seemed to be no older than his mid-twenties, and Navy too. They haven't seen what real war is like. Odds are they'd spent their entire careers part of the Armada, any combat they found themselves in, supported on all flanks by 10 other battlecruisers.

I was escorted onto the beach, and out ahead of us, not 20 yards away, forest began, and soon beyond it, inhospitable swamp land. _How the hell did we expect to find what we were looking for in there?_

"Reports say that there is a mother tree, a banyan-grove in the center of the swamp land, towering larger than any of the others. It's rumored to serve as a site of worship for the swamp's inhabitants."

"How do we plan on finding it, sir? We splitting up?" asked an ensign whose named I hadn't yet remembered, clearly terrified at the prospect of splitting up into smaller groups.

"Negative, ensign. We'll be travelling together. Strength in numbers. You'll notice that each of you are carrying flare guns with 5 cartridges each. We'll be trying to stick together, but if we're to get split up at any point, and you lose your flare guns or are out of ammunition, the mother tree is our rendezvous. "

"What about our transport?" Zaik asked. "Aren't we concerned about some Seppies nabbing it from us while we're not looking?"

"The transport will return to the blockade. It will come back to us when we've completed our mission, signaled with a flair. Any more questions?"

"Sir," prompted Krezk. "If you don't mind me asking again, what's our actual mission. Meaning, how will we know when we've gotten what we came for?"

And so, Krezk voiced the concerns that not only he had, but so did every member of this squad, myself included. Nobody was really expecting to find anything. All this talk of spirits, the paranormal, we didn't deny their existence, but we denied our ability to even come close to understanding it, something we were sent to do today, to understanding this other world. He wasn't asking when we'd finish our mission. He was asking how far we'd take this before we were all dead.

Harzek sighed. He knew that as well, and he was just as reluctant to be going into these swamps as anyone else was, and so he answered, "If there's nothing for us to see at the mother tree, there's nothing for us to see. It would just have been one failed attempt to gain an edge. Nothing more, nothing less."

He was already preparing for failure. They all were. In a way, so was I. But I had more riding on this than any of them. If this failed, so did my career, so did everything I'd been working towards my entire life. This couldn't fail. **I **couldn't fail.

So when Harzek turned his eyes towards me, towards the reason they were all here, the reason their lives were put in danger, I returned the gaze with nothing less than total confidence. This was going to work. And if it didn't, I will have wished that I died in these swamps than returned empty handed.

And so we commenced our march into the forest, fireteam A at the head, fireteams B and C covering our flanks. Over the rustling of the shrubbery as we entered the darkness, the last thing we could hear of the coast was our transport's engines spurring to life once more and returning to the safety of the Western Armada.

We knew the geography. We were expecting the march to last around a day until we reached the mountains surrounding the swamp. It would take another day to hike up them, and a day to descend. Then we placed the time it would take for us to navigate the swamps at approximately three to four days. These were the estimations we'd come up with beforehand, and so we'd packed accordingly. Our bags were laden each with 3 weeks' worth of MREs in case of a worst-case scenario and to accommodate for the journey back. Alongside that, we were each packing first-aid kits, enough water to last us, along with survival supplies spread between us such as rope, hunting equipment, etc.

And so the march began. This may not have been the army, trained in ground-operations, but even in the navy, we were soldiers. As young as the men surrounding me were, I had to give them credit where credit was due. They survived their training, and not just any upstart half-baked trainee could make it to the Western Armada, and they demonstrated that here. The lack of discipline they'd shown ashore was gone now as they maintained their marching order, keeping on alert for Separatists activity, never leaving their guard down. Then again, the day had just begun. What remained to be seen was how long the discipline would last. How long until boredom took over, and men started cracking jokes, squandering their rations, and forgetting that we were in Separatist occupied territory, but so far, they'd surprised me. The one's who, aboard the transport, had protested the loudest, now followed Harzek's orders as thought they were coded into them from birth. There was something commendable about it. Then again, they'd known him far longer than the half a day I had.

The march went by soundly enough. We were making good time, landing at 1400, nearly halfway to the mountains by 1700. We stopped for a 5-minute break to catch our breaths and drink some water, only consuming at most half of our day's supply, then continued.

"No sign of any seppies so far," said Zaik, Fireteam A, breaking the silence that had been maintained since landing save the occasional order from Harzek.

"Please don't fucking jinx us, Zaik," said Krezk, from Fireteam C.

Additionally from Fireteam C, the ensign whose name I'd finally put to Zayli, a more femenine name, something I'm sure his squad mates had already made fun of more than enough times, said, "Maybe they assume nobody is stupid enough to go into the swamps?"

"Tell that to the hicks that call that fucking sludge hole 'home'," grumbled Krezk.

"They got hicks in there?"

"Tribals," corrected Harzek. "But hicks aren't too far off, but that's enough on the matter. Cut the chatter if you would."

"Yes sir."

"Yes sir."

"Yes sir."

Soldiers were like clay, molded by whoever was in charge of them. An officer who tolerated no outbursts such as this would keep them disciplined but would only prepare them for his own command. They would respond perfectly to his commands, but under the charge of any other, they'd be lost, and, if they'd lost their CO in combat, there would be no room for flexibility. They'd be lost, confused, scared, dead before they even remembered the chain of command as they'd only ever known one singular commander.

If you tolerated too many outbursts, however, you'd groom your men for independence, but too much so. They'd no exactly how to act without their CO, even when he was around. His command would fall on deaf ears, and the longer it went on, the harder it would be to restore discipline, to make these men soldiers again.

In what I'd seen of him so far, it seemed to me that Harzek had found a middle ground of sorts, by no means an easy feat. The fact that he wasn't the biggest fan of me made him no lesser of a leader as far as I was concerned

The sun was setting now, to our backs as we headed further east, beginning to feel the incline of the mountain ahead of us, following its trails to make our ways up, at least so much so that we were above the forest tree line. Ascending this would be the task for tomorrow. For now, what mattered was being able to find a good enough area to set camp, a place we eventually found a few yards up, a nice clearing with enough space for us to set up camp, pitch our tents, start a fire, and take a good 30-minutes to eat our MREs for the day before settling down for the night.

Chatter was quiet. There was no better time to do it, but in a way, we weren't long enough into this op that it became standard. There was still a sense of disbelief in questioning why they were here to begin with. I couldn't hope but feel a tang of guilt. I knew how it felt to be assigned on a pointless task. I'd served under the same captain for almost 7 years, being held back at every turn, but I'd rather be held back than thrown at a task that seemed certain to get me killed. I wondered if the silence would break. Nobody did. It was odd, normally, I would have welcomed the silence, but now, I knew that the silence was filled by the stares they gave me. It wasn't me who sent them here, it wasn't me who was responsible, but I was the "package" so to speak. I was their burden. And they hated me for it. If anybody higher up the chain of command were here, those gazes would be directed at him, but right now, I was as close t the problem that they'd get. They hated me for it, and there was nothing I could do to change that. I looked up the mountain, knowing that swampland lay beyond. I still had no idea what I was going to do once I was there. I had no idea what even to ask. "How do I stop the water spirits attacking my men?" _Right. Like that would work_.

I was still looking up the mountain as I sat in front of my tent, taking off my boots and armor before crawling into my sleeping bag. Fireteam A had watch for the night. Fireteam B tomorrow, and so on. I would have welcomed having watch right now. Any distraction, any more time to just think would have been welcome.

I turned to enter my tent when I felt a presence behind me. "Junior Lieutenant," Harzek said.

"Lieutenant" I answered, not trying to antagonize him.

"I don't have time to waste on small talk. These are my men. They are my responsibility, and I want you to answer as plainly as possible. Do you have any damn idea what you're doing here?"

I considered how to answer that. I wondered if I should lie, and say that I knew what I was doing, but at the end of the day, it was still a lie, and it would change nothing, so I only answered as plainly as I could. "Not yet."

"And what the hell is 'not yet' supposed to mean."

"That no. I don't know what I'm doing."

"Then why the hell are you here, and, better yet, why the hell am I here? Why the hell are my men here?"

"Because my master-"

"I know who your damn master was. That doesn't explain why they send you, some upstart officer who I doubt listened to anything a man as renowned as your master said that didn't have to relate to advancing your own ends."

He wasn't wrong. Jeong Jeong always spoke of the dangers of power, of the dangers of fire, how it could control its user easier than we could control it. But at the end of the day, did anything he say matter anymore? He was a traitor, who knew where his lies began, and where they ended? _At the end of the day, he served his own goals, which advanced the question, if I couldn't trust his own words, then why was I here? _"I know that my master focused on many aspects of the world outside of the one where we live."

"The spirit world?"

"Yes, sir."

"So you're saying that we're here just to chase spirits?"

"That's what you said during the briefing."

"Because maybe that's all I was told, but I have a hard time believing that me and 18 of my men are being sent out solely for the purpose of getting spirits to stop messing with us. Maybe I just have a hard time believing that our command is so stupid so as to justify throwing men at a world that, according to the laws of the universe, we cannot attack back against! What else is there to it, Zhao?"

"I'm sorry to tell you, but there's nothing more. We've been sent to find and remove the water spirit as a threat. There's not much more I can say."

"So you're saying you know absolutely nothing."

"I'm afraid that I am."

"But you agreed to do this?"

"I agreed to serve my nation to the best of my abilities."

"Don't give me that patriotic bullshit. You think if you do this, everything will be forgiven, right? That you might even be given a promotion if you did this, past your initial rank of lieutenant?" _He wasn't wrong. The idea had crossed my mind more than once_. "You're not a patriot, Zhao. You're a glory hound. This nation and its soldiers are just a means to an end for you. If you felt you could gain more glory in the Earth Kingdom, you'd go there in the blink of an eye."

"That's not-"

"It **is**. You've endangered the lives of Fire Nation soldiers more than once to advance your own aims. Just a few seconds later, and you would have killed everybody aboard the _Retribution_, aboard my ship, but that didn't matter to you, did it? You knew protocol, that the destroyer was **our **ship to chase, but you chose to pursue it, not caring that you were breaching protocol, and endangering the lives of the men in the blockade you chose to run."

I didn't have anything to say right now. I didn't know what I could say. I regretted my actions, but he wasn't wrong. I regretted my actions for what they cost me, not for what they could have cost others. I always told myself I loved my nation, but how much of that was even true? But at least one thing made sense. I'd compromised the safety of these men once before already. What assurance did they have that I wouldn't do it again?

Harzek continued, "I follow my orders, so I'll go along with this, but your safety is meaningless to me. You look after yourself. I'm here to keep my men alive for as long as possible. Not to look after you. If you fall behind, if you take a different route, if you don't leave when we pack up, that's your own damned fault, but I will not let you endanger my men a second time. Now go to sleep. We wake at 0500 to march. Join us, or don't. It doesn't matter to us. We're here to talk to tribals that worship a tree and get some answers. Whether you're here for it or not, it doesn't matter to us." And with that, he left, and as I allowed myself to settle in for the night, there was that knot in my stomach that told me he was completely right. That I had no purpose here. I was the closest thing they could find to somebody well-versed in the spirit world. I was a scapegoat if anything. I was nothing more than that. There was nothing I could do that the rest of these men couldn't. So I closed my eyes as I tried to lie to myself as the night came that I would prove them otherwise, that I would serve my purpose, but at the end of the day, I don't think even **I **was capable of convincing myself of that.

Eventually, the next day came, I having to wake myself up in the midst of the rest of my squad already packing up, getting ready to leave, likely wishing amongst themselves that I wouldn't wake up, one less burden to carry. Inevitably, amidst the commotion of a disassembling camp, I did awaken. And so, another day began after I managed to catch up with the rest of my squad. Luckily for me, when it seemed I only had myself to look after, it wasn't hard to keep pace with 19 tightly knit soldiers. I knew they held me in regard, which was perhaps better than in low regard. For all they were concerned, I didn't exist. They wouldn't let me slow them down or endanger their lives as they seemed so adamant to view my intentions. I was invisible. And right now, that seemed just what I needed.

I knew how to ration my food and water. Hadn't ate breakfast and was still on yesterday's supply of water. I'd learned the hard way not to overindulge, how to make the msot of what little I had. So as we scaled these mountains, each step a chore of its own, the dwindling oxygen, rising temperatures of Spring, and precarious nature of each step slowly wearing us down. We'd stopped twice before noon. We were nowhere near the top of the mountain, myself estimating we were a third of the way there. It seemed the squad's efforts to ignore my presence were working, as they now were beginning to chat amongst themselves, cracking jokes, arguing from time to time, not that I could hear. I took my breaks, my meals, my time, away from the rest. I'd taken the rear guard, allowing myself to trail a few yards behind the others, giving both me and them the space we needed away from one another.

From time to time, I'd turn around to set my eyes on the landscape we were leaving behind us as we slithered across the side of the mountain like a zigging and zagging snake. From where we now were at 1330, about, at least, I could see the Nip, the fleet hidden from view, but its plumes of dark gray smoke never ceasing to indicate our iron grip over this waterway. _I should be fighting Separatists right now, bot marching towards a PR stunt of an operation, a mission with about as much logistical value as finding the Avatar. _That venture had been abandoned long ago when Sozin had died, still unable to find the "one threat" to the Fire Nation's security. From time to time, the occasional zealot would rise up to the challenge, and would organize some grand expedition to find and retrieve the Avatar. It was a foolish venture, children playing at war games, but it was all folly. The Air Nomads had been eliminated for 20 years before Sozin finally succumbed to his ripe age of 102, never finding his lost quarry. By that time, he'd abandoned the throne, allowing Azulon, who didn't share the same zeal, to assume more relevant duties. The Avatar was a forgotten memory now, lost for nearly 100 years. Odds were too, he was already long dead, likely having died during the genocide itself, born among the water tribe, never found, probably dead, reincarnated, likely dead again. For all we knew, we were already in possession of the Avatar and we didn't even know it. Not that it mattered. If the Avatar was really a threat, then they hadn't deigned to make themselves so in the last hundred years that the Fire Nation has spent conquering the world. Why would they show up now?

It was all just a tale we told ourselves to keep us on guard, to remind us that we dare never become complacent, never allow ourselves to be taken unawares. It was all just for show, much like what I was in the middle of doing now. Nobody denied the existence of the spirits, much less myself who had seen their damaging effects up close and personal. And I agreed that something had to be done, but if I was the one to do it was a different conversation entirely. I hadn't ignored the words of Jeong Jeong as Harzek seems to assume I had. I listened to him, I respected him, I trusted him. _And he betrayed me_. I shook the thought aside. _He betrayed his Nation_. I shook the words in my head away once more, needing to focus as my gaze fixated on the horizon ahead of me, just putting one foot in front of another, hugging the cliff wall, not daring to take one wrong step. _I acknowledged the words that he had taught me, but his recent actions did throw his teachings into a new light, but there was wisdom to be learned from the enemy. To defeat your enemy, you must know them. Jeong Jeong had said that,_ "Man views themselves as the masters of the universe, no power above them, but we are not alone in this world. We share this world with plants, animals, the spirits, and who knows what else. They may inhabit a world separate to our own, but we lest not forget that they have the ability to interfere with us, while we lack this selfsame ability. We are not alone in this world, and we are by no means its masters."

_In his words, Jeong Jeong surrendered himself to the world. I realized that now. I thought he had spoken of humility, of understanding, but I saw the message beneath his words. It wasn't man he referred to. It was us, the Nation he used to call his own. The country he turned his back on._ My fists clenched, feeling the heat, the rage, the fire rising within me as I took one step in front of another, not even looking to see where my foot landed. _He had given up, switching sides because he believed we had already lost. He was a coward! _I kept on marching. _But he was wrong. It was man who banished the spirits to their world. __**They **__were the ones hungry for power, the ones seeking to dig their class into our world, fueling our conflicts, our wars_. My vision was blurring, but I kept on marching. _The spirits had overstepped their bounds, had broken the fragile peace, and it was up to us to restore the order. We'd done so before. We would do it again!_

I crashed into the soldier in front of me, sending him bouncing forward as I barely stopped myself from falling back. "For fuck's sake," he yelled. "Watch it!" I regained my footing, looking ahead, waiting for my vision to unblur, but the darkness remained. _It was already night_. _How long had we been marching?_

"This is a good spot," I heard Harzek's voice call from the front of the line. Unpack your things and settle down. Get some grub in your bellies along with some water and get some sleep. It's been a long day."

I heard the relieved sighs and groans that thundered around me, myself having missed on the hardships that the others around me had so clearly been beset by. I was still in shock at how long I'd been gone. It felt like I'd only been thinking to myself for a few minutes, but here I was.

"That means you too, Zhao!" Harzek called, for some reason even deigning to acknowledge me. Through the shock, I allowed myself to finally unpack, pitching my tent away from the rest as seemed the silent custom, starting my own small fire with some scattered tinder, thankfully dry. I hadn't even realized we'd reached the near peak of the mountain, and I took the time to gaze at the scene around me. The sun wasn't just setting too. It **had **been set. For quite a while, the stars sitting in the sky, moving ever so slowly to the point that the heavens' movements evaded our recognition, there one moment when we shut our eyes, gone when we opened them once more.

From where I was, I could only hear the mumbling of conversation emerging from the soldiers engaging in their pre-night conversation, a tradition I'm sure they'd mutually shared in the years they'd known one another. And for once, I found myself missing my old crew. Missing Izzo's naivete, Zeera's confidence and hunger for advancement that we both shared, and to some small degree, even the simplicity of Zain's command. I knew where I stood with him. There was no confusion at least. I knew what each day had in store. It was a career-killer of an assignment, but I had known my abilities, and I knew that he could throw nothing at me that I couldn't handle. But now, as my eyes trailed down the horizon, to the shadowed sludge of swampland ahead, I realized that I had no idea what tomorrow would have in store for us. Never had I been so confused about my future, no longer thinking years down the road, to my own command, my future accomplishments, but simply to the day ahead, to the unknown, of just how lost I felt in these moments. But I wasn't lost, was I? Not so long as I had a purpose. Tomorrow, it was descending these mountains, beyond that, questioning the locals, after that, doing what had to be done to stop the spirits killing my men. After that, there were only two primary objectives that plagued me most. Prior to a week ago, it had only been one, to work my way through the Fire Nation command structure, one rung of the ladder at a time, but today, I'd settled on just one more. I was going to find Jeong Jeong, and when I did, I was going to kill him. I was going to kill the man that had lied to, deceived, and betrayed me. I was going to kill my old master.

And so, on that second night, after allowing myself to eat and drink, I slept to dreams of justice, to dreams of revenge, softened by the light patter of a gathering rain outside.

I don't know what it was that woke me up this time, but as soon as consciousness had been regained, it occurred to me that it didn't matter. Because amongst the sounds of a raging storm outside, muffling the voices that were clearly yelling, barking orders, questioning the fates, there was no difficulty in understanding that something was horribly wrong, a horrible howling now picking up, drowning out all other noises. I threw off my sheets, crawling out of the sleeping bag, reaching instinctively to the armor I had at my bedside, my years of doing this time and time again allowing me to get my chest plate on first, followed by both of my legs and one of my arms by the time the stake of my tent tore loose, in a domino effect, unearthing all of the rest. I barely managed to escape polyester tomb, bag in hang, by the time that the wind had taken hold of it, flinging it into the wind along with all else I had possessed within, from the rest of my armor to my sleeping bag. My first instinct was that this was a dream, that I was about to wake up. This couldn't have been real. We'd have known if a storm like this was approaching. _Just like we did last time? _So when I looked around, and saw the rest of my squad, struggling to grab hold of their belongings, barely invisible behind the thick curtain of downpour, I realized, this wasn't a dream.

And this was one of those moments where, friend or foe, I didn't want to be alone. I rushed to where I believed the others to be, and found them there, at their camp site, desperately struggling to grab hold of what they could, their voices as I shoved past them those of complete and utter terror. "What the hell is happening?!", "Where the fuck is Zaik!?," "What do we do?!" But amidst that, one voice I knew I could recognize, and had to listen to, "Leave the tents!" I could barely hear Harzek's voice call out. "Grab your bags! Grab your armor! We've got to get to lower ground!" His eyes caught mine as I'd entered his immediate vicinity, and for once, his look wasn't one of hatred, likely because he was too busy trying to survive. Somehow, he'd managed to fully don his armor, and already has his pack over his shoulders. "Zhao!" he called, not wasting time on by demeaning rank as he'd usually done. He must have noticed that I was as ready as I was going to be, and so he ordered, "Help the others!" I turned my attention then to the nearest man, a soldier whose face I could never hope to distinguish in the chaos in addition to the mud splattering his face. _Or was it blood? _I hooked my hand around the underside of his arm, grabbing his pack with my left hand, pulling him up while handing him what I could only assume was his bag, though at this point, it didn't seem to matter. We needed to consolidate as much equipment as possible.

We were between violent gusts at the moment, the only danger the rain, now added to by the occasional strike of lightening. _It's getting closer_. But the calm between gusts wouldn't last forever, and the howl alerted us to its threat only a fraction of a second before it hit, Harzek barely managing to utter the singular word, "Brace!" The man in my arms flew. How far back? I couldn't say, but he and I were no longer tethered. I could feel myself being lifted, but threw myself to the ground on all fours, desperately trying to secure a grip on whatever I could, unsuccessfully so feeling myself being pulled, or pushed, or whatever it was, towards the cliff's edge, now clambering for life until I felt a hand grab around my wrist, holding me steady for the next few seconds until the gust passed, and my eyes met Harzek who now let go, yelling above the maelstrom's rage, "Grab who you can and get down the mountain, now!" His orders could never be executed, a journey of that length set to have taken us a full day, during clear weather, fully rested, with 16 hours of daylight, but in this moment, that didn't matter, all that did was the singular purpose, To get to lower ground, and to survive.

I left Harzek were he was, actually finding myself hoping that he'd be alright, and rushed to the nearest figure I could see, somebody hunched over on the ground, completely unarmored, not even in their Fire Nation uniform, but their actual underclothes, but notwithstanding, I grabbed them by the waist, pulling them up, pulling them alongside me until they regained their own footing, soon stumbling beside me as we headed for the path that would theoretically lead us down the mountain. We passed more soldiers, some of which were now beginning to move on as well, helping those nearest to them to move on as well. I had no idea how many of us had already been lost thus far, or to what extent they were. There was no way to know, and no time to think on it, but only on putting one foot ahead of the other.

We were barely on the trail when it started, the first signs of it, a slosh of mud first, then a rock, then a horrifying crash as though that of lightening striking just above us, and upon me turning up, I saw it, a rushing cloud of mud, dirt, rock, a landslide, one that we were directly in the way of. And in that moment, I found myself doing nothing I never thought I would have. I placed both of my hands on the back of the soldier in front of me, putting as much pressure into my elbows as I shoved him forward, and braced myself for whatever fate awaited me.

And then it was darkness, enveloping me, surrounding me, my body no longer my own, but being carried by the fate of the world, pulling me down into the abyss, to my own grave, to a dark space in the universe where nobody would ever find me, a hole I could be stuffed in with the key tossed into an equally dark and buried hole. A hole I now found myself digging my way out of, one hand in front of another, as though I were swimming in the earth itself, desperately trying to reach a surface I couldn't see, not daring to open my eyes nor nose, but just rising, rising, rising however I could, until first, my arms rose, like the plays I'd used to watch on Ember Island of the living dead, then I saw it in front of me, the open world, and dug myself out, one handful of dirt at a time, digging myself out of the grave the world had deigned to bury me in, not done just yet. Somewhere along the way, I'd lost a leg plate on my right leg, and my right arm bracer, my pack somehow still on my back, and so I emerged, but not into light as I might have supposed, but into a world that felt jut as submerged as the one I'd emerged from, and so I looked all around me, at the world of shadows around me, the mountain I'd just descended nowhere in sight, only to be surrounded by a world of greens and blacks. So here I was, then, I'd made it, somehow, alive. But that was the easy part, I was sad to admit, because I was in the place that had claimed so many others before me. I was in the swamp, and my concerns were only just beginning.


End file.
